ANKARA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's national oil company will explore for oil and natural gas with the American company in the Black Sea in the near future, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday.

    Turkey's Petroleum Corp. (TPAO), Turkey's sole national oil company, signed here Wednesday a cooperation agreement with U.S. Exxon Mobil Exploration company to explore for oil and natural gas beneath the Black Sea, said the report.

    "Finding oil and natural gas resources in the Black Sea will contribute to regional peace and stability, as well as world energy supply safety," Turkey's Energy & Natural Resources Hilmi Guler said during the signature ceremony.

    Under the agreement, the two would invest 400-500 million U.S. dollars in oil and natural gas exploration and would also collaborate to merge skills and operational abilities during the development and production phases.

    According to the agreement, ExxonMobil would become operator during the initial exploration phase and earn a 50 percent interest in the licenses covering the north of Kastamonu, Bartin and Samsun provinces.

    Earlier, Turkey had signed a deal with Brazilian oil company Petrobras to explore oil and natural gas in the Black Sea, said the report, adding that the ExxonMobil was the first foreign company that had an exploration licence in Turkey.

    ExxonMobil affiliates or predecessor companies have been operating in Turkey for more than 100 years. Today, ExxonMobil's presence in Turkey includes a lubes blending plant in Istanbul as well as finished lubricants, aviation fuels and marine fuels salesin important markets throughout the country, it said.

    ExxonMobil is a global company present in most countries of the world with an industry-leading inventory of discovered oil and gas resources, a strong portfolio of proprietary technology and substantial growth opportunities.

    The company is the world's largest non-governmental marketer of equity natural gas, the largest global refiner, manufacturer of lube base stocks, and supplier and marketer of petroleum products, and one of the world's leading manufacturers of a wide range of petrochemicals and specialty chemical products.

    TPAO was founded in 1954. Since its foundation, TPAO has made pioneering efforts in all branches of petroleum industry and implemented significant and strategic investments successfully.

    In addition to vast onshore and shallow water operating experience in Turkey, TPAO has interests in various projects in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Libya.

    In 2004, TPAO announced its objective to meet Turkey's increasing oil and natural gas demand through domestic and international exploration and production projects. Since then TPAO has significantly increased its domestic investments by setting a new exploration strategy by extending its activities to unexplored basins of Turkey, especially offshore.