ANKARA - Turkish Hattat Group and Chinese Datong company signed a contract to prospect coal and methane in Amasra town of Bartin, on Turkish Black Sea littoral.
A signing ceremony held in Ankara Sheraton Hotel on Tuesday and was attended by Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Industry & Trade Minister Ali Coskun, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and executives of Turkish and Chinese companies.
Taking the floor at the ceremony, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said that Turkey would rather depend on coal, water and renewable energy instead of natural gas and oil which are imported and their prices are soaring constantly.
"Coal and water are the main pillars of our energy policy. Third one is renewable energy, fourth is nuclear energy and the last one is natural gas" Guler said.
Chinese Datong produces more than 120 million tons of coal per year. It is the second largest company of China and sixth largest of the world, in coal mining.
Chinese and Turkish companies will excavate 5 million tons of coal annually in Turkey. The project will employ 11,000 people with a total investment of USD 2 billion in five phases.