Invest News DetailBloomberg - Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi (TPAO), Türkiye's state-run oil company, will spend $826 million this year on gas and oil exploration to meet rising demand. Huseyin Yakar, a manager at TPAO, didn't give a figure for last year's investment in exploration. It was $350 million in 2006 and $70 million in 2002, according to the Energy Ministry. Türkiye has mainly explored off its Black Sea coast, where it hopes to find a “giant field,” Yakar told an energy conference in Istanbul Tuesday. Türkiye began producing gas last year near the Black Sea town of Akcakoca, a site that's yielding 500,000 cubic meters a day, Yakar said. TPAO is now “shifting priority” to the Mediterranean and last year completed the collection of seismic data at two sets of blocks near the cities of Antalya and Mersin, Yakar also said.