Privatisation may have ended the era of the state-owned national oil company in Europe, but someone forgot to tell Mehmet Uysal, chief executive of Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi, Turkey’s government-owned upstream operator.

Mr Uysal is happy to talk at length about his ambitious expansion plans for TPAO, which, if realised, should transform what was until recently a local operator into an important Middle East player.