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OYAK, Türkiye's largest complementary occupational pension fund and a major industrial group, signaled progress in reported talks with Saudi Aramco as General Manager Murat Yalcintas confirmed the group is holding talks with a leading global company.
"One of the international strategic partnerships we are seeking to establish OYAK as an internationally influential company is, as you know, one of the world's giant companies," Yalcintas told reporters on Tuesday. "A clear picture will emerge by the end of this year or the beginning of next year."
The comments came as executives from Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, visited facilities of OYAK's fuel distribution subsidiary GuzelEnerji in Aliaga, Samsun and Gebze, ANKA News Agency reported a day earlier.
GuzelEnerji's Gebze fuel terminal has 104,813 cubic meters of storage capacity and a 42,000 DWT jetty, while its Aliaga fuel terminal has 123,144 cubic meters of storage and a 100,000 DWT jetty. Its Aliaga LPG terminal has 5,720 cubic meters of storage.
GuzelEnerji also owns 50% of a fuel storage terminal in Samsun with a capacity of 41,443 cubic meters, while Shell & Turcas Petrol holds the remaining 50%.
Industry sources told ANKA that negotiations over a potential partnership with GuzelEnerji, which operates the TotalEnergies Stations, M Oil, Valvoline and Turk Petrol brands in Türkiye, are largely complete and could enter a formal stage within the next few months.
"We will grow in the energy sector and become an international player, and the talks are a step in this direction," Yalcintas added. GuzelEnerji's network includes 1,055 TotalEnergies and Milangaz fuel stations across Türkiye, while its consolidated revenue reached ₺112.3 billion in the first half of the year, according to company figures.
The negotiations mark Saudi Aramco's latest push into Türkiye's downstream fuel market, after the Saudi oil giant emerged as one of the leading bidders for Petrol Ofisi, then Türkiye's largest fuel retailer, in 2017. However, Dutch energy trader Vitol ultimately acquired the company from Austria's OMV.
Beyond energy, OYAK is also looking at infrastructure assets, including bridges and highways, Yalcintas said. The group sees infrastructure as an attractive investment area because of its potential to generate regular and stable cash flows, he added.
Türkiye unveiled plans in early September to transfer the operating rights for major highways and the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge to private operators. The government is considering concession arrangements rather than outright sales, with the final structure still under discussion.
Reports said potential domestic bidders include IC Ictas, Limak, Kalyon and Cengiz Holding. French infrastructure investor Meridiam and Egis have also separately been reported as considering bids for the two Istanbul bridges.
Under its 2030 vision, OYAK targets a $60 billion portfolio by 2030, identifying infrastructure, along with energy, high technology, logistics, and mining, as strategic growth areas.
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