(Updates with more comments)
By Ceyda Caglayan
ISTANBUL, May 3 (Reuters) - Turkish energy company TurcasPetrol is looking at entering the Iranian energy market throughinvestments in oil, gas or renewables following the lifting ofmost sanctions against the Islamic Republic, its chief executivesaid on Tuesday.
"We believe we definitely must be in Iran," Batu Aksoy toldreporters. "At a time when growth in the world is stalling, amarket like Iran could be a driving force both globally and forTurkey," he said.
Turcas is interested in teaming up with a localcompany but is also open to cooperating with Turkish firms,Aksoy said.
Most international sanctions including those targetingTehran's oil sector were lifted in January in exchange for curbson Iran's nuclear programme under a deal reached with worldpowers in 2015.
Some U.S. sanctions and a U.S. trade embargo remain inplace.
"We have been shuttling back and forth between Iran andTurkey for the past five years. We have established networksbefore the lifting of sanctions. Now the embargo is lifted, theyare more sympathetic to doing business with us," he said.
Supplying natural gas from Iran, as well as projects for oiland its derivatives, as well as renewable investments, were allon the agenda, he said.
Turcas has fuel retail business in Turkey in a partnershipwith Royal Dutch Shell. It has also set up power generationcompanies Germany's RWE. (Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editingby Daren Butler and David Dolan)
