Turkey''s state-owned energy company TPAO secured a contract worth $215 million with Kuwaiti and Afghan partners to explore for oil in Afghanistan, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Friday. Turkish energy officials told Reuters that TPAO''s investment in the Afghan project would amount to $64.5 million. Work would be conducted in two separate fields, they said.

Also involved in the consortium were Kuwait Energy, Dragon Oil and the Afghan Ghazanfer group. No further details were available. Energy companies are exploring new frontiers in pursuit of fresh reserves as they exhaust existing fields and Afghanistan, after decades of conflict, remains little explored. Yildiz also told reporters said there was no plan for a price hike in natural gas and electricty in December.

Copyright Reuters, 2012