Drillship takes on more drilling work at giant Black Sea gas project

Türkiye’s first drillship has begun drilling a new detection well in the Sakarya gas field project development in the Black Sea, one of the largest energy projects ever built in the country.

Türkiye Petrolleri reported on 30 January that the Fatih drilling vessel had started drilling in Amasra-2.

To remind, Türkiye’s national oil and gas company TPAO brought in the country’s first drillship in 2017.

The Sakarya project includes the establishment of a subsea production facility at a depth of 2,200 meters, 170 kilometers north of Filyos, and construction of a gas receiving and processing terminal on the Filyos shore, and the construction of pipelines to connect two units on land and sea.

The gas development, discovered in August 2020 by Fatih, is expected to deliver the first gas in the first quarter of 2023, most likely in March.

At the end of 2022, the drillship made a new natural gas discovery at the Çaycuma 1 block, amounting to 58 billion cubic meters (bcm), 3,023 meters below sea level in the Black Sea.

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced then that the country’s natural gas reserves of 540 bcm were revised to 652 bcm following re-evaluation, bringing Türkiye’s total natural gas reserves in the Black Sea to 710 bcm.

Türkiye’s government and TPAO revealed recently that a new vessel, named Mukavemet – which means Strength – had joined the country’s fleet and completed its preparations to participate in operations at Sakarya.