Thanks to STRATFOR (link to site only; article requires a subscription), I noted Turkish Petroleum Corporation’s (TPAO) announcement that it is pressing ahead with plans to invest $3.5 billion in Iran’s South Pars natural gas field and hopes to sign further agreements in the first quarter of 2008. The project entails developing the field to transport Iranian natural gas to both Europe and Turkmenistan via Turkey.

It will be interesting to see how Turkey balances its interest in energy cooperation with Iran with its close ties with the U.S. As STRATFOR notes,

“…Earlier the United States protested the plans, and is preparing legislation that would punish any company or country that invests more than $20 million in Iran. Though Tehran has been talking about Turkish-Iranian energy cooperation for several weeks, this is perhaps the first indication from Ankara that the plans are moving forward. That said, the Turks are slowly moving ahead. Obviously Ankara does not wish to upset Washington — despite the fact that U.S.-Turkish relations are at their lowest ebb because of Iraq and the Kurdish issue, something that has brought Turkey and Iran in closer cooperation…”