* No plans to bid for Algerian blocks
* To bid with Royal Dutch Shell offshore Lebanon
* Drilling first well for shale gas with Shell
By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, June 11 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp isin talks with Turkey's TPAO to buy a stake in a block in theBlack Sea, and the country is on the hunt for shale gas in itsown territory, the acting head of the state-owned energy companysaid on Tuesday.
"ExxonMobil wants to be in the Black Sea with us, in deepoffshore," TPAO's acting president and chief executive, BesimSisman, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
"It's on the Ukraine and Romania side," he added, withoutgiving further details on the talks between Turkey's state ownedenergy company and Exxon, the world's largest publicly-tradedoil company.
An Exxon spokesman said the company did not comment oncommercial discussions.
Turkey, keen to reduce its dependence on imports, hasstepped up exploration efforts in the Black Sea andMediterranean in cooperation with foreign companies. Turkey hasyet to find any oil.
Its domestic production is in decline and covered only about7 percent of demand in 2012, according to the InternationalEnergy Agency (IEA). Of its hefty imports, about 39 percent camefrom Iran in 2012 but sanctions have resulted in sharp cuts.
EXPLORING MORE?
The country is also seeking exploration and productionassets elsewhere in the region and is just starting to look forshale gas on its own territory.
Sisman said TPAO would not bid for blocks in Algeria, a turnaround from January when Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said TPAOplanned to take part in upcoming Algerian oil explorationtenders. He did not give a reason for the change.
In Iraq, "we have four projects and that is enough for us,"Sisman said, adding that "it is not our business to go to thenorth side of Iraq."
Turkey is hoping to work on exploration and production innorthern Iraq through commercial contracts with Russian and U.S.companies, Yildiz told Reuters last month, after Turkey's primeminister said that a Turkish company had a contract in placewith Exxon.
The country has increasingly courted Iraqi Kurdistan overoil and gas, upsetting the central government in Baghdad whichsays it alone has authority to control oil exports from Iraq.
Sisman said TPAO would join the latest bidding round forblocks offshore in Lebanon with Royal Dutch Shell Plc,which it already partners with in the Mediterranean and in shaleexploration.
TPAO is drilling a first well for shale gas with Shellcurrently, Sisman said, and is talking to other companies forfurther work in the sector.
"Small and big, they are coming to Turkey ... but we want tochoose only strong companies" with experience of fracking, theprocess used to extract oil and gas from shale rocks, he said.
Sisman said TPAO is scouting for oil assets in Africa as itwants to take more risk to generate higher returns.
