Fourth well in Black Sea drilling campaign comes online

Canada’s oil and gas player Trillion Energy has put the fourth well in its 2022 – 2023 drilling campaign on a natural gas field in the Black Sea off Türkiye into production.

Once the Uranus rig, which was hired in May 2022, was repositioned to drill Trillion’s third and fourth wells at the SASB shallow-water conventional gas field, the Canadian player outlined that the West Akçakoca-1 and Guluc-2 wells would be spudded a few weeks apart and completed in sequence. When December 2022 rolled in, the company spudded the Guluc-2 well.

After the well reached 3,910 metres total measured depth (TMD) and true vertical debt (TVD) of 1,623 metres, completion and flow testing were anticipated over the following weekend, but the completion of the Guluc-2 well was delayed, as massive earthquakes, which hit Türkiye and Syria, caused shipping issues, delaying the delivery of well tools to allow the perforation guns to be properly conveyed and positioned into the well.

In an update on Wednesday, 29 March 2023, Trillion Energy revealed flow test results for the Guluc-2 well at the SASB natural gas field. The flow test results for the previous three wells – South Akçakoca-2, Akçakoca-3, and West Akçakoca-1 – were disclosed in early and late November 2022 for the first two wells and earlier this week for the third well.

According to Trillion, 5.5 metres of the lower natural gas sands in the Guluc-2 well were perforated and tested on 28 March 2023. While flow rates peaked at a rate of 16.35 MMcf/day, the shut-in pressure was measured at 2,000 psi. The well will now enter long-term production with an initial production rate of about 6 MMcf/d. 

While the Guluc-2 well discovered 73 metres of gas pay across 14 separate intervals, the current flow test results and production is from only 6 meters of gas pay, thus, 67 meters remain to be perforated in the future ensuring a long-term production horizon for the well. 

Furthermore, Trillion explains that the Guluc-2 well targeted a structure with no previously attributed reserves and represents “a significant discovery,” as it has the thickest stacked pay – over 70 meters – and highest flow test rates measured to date in the firm’s drilling programme. 

Arthur Halleran, CEO of Trillion, remarked: “The Guluc-2 well marks a significant success and will be an excellent producer for years to come. It is the fourth successful gas well in our programme, which has now been significantly de-risked from both a geological and engineering standpoint. Guluc-2 is the longest reach well to date – over 3 kilometres horizontal distance. The rig is now mobilising to drill the Bayhanli gas pool, a proven reserve never previously produced.”

Moreover, the Uranus rig is now rigging down and is mobilising to the East Ayazli Tripod to start the drilling of the Bayhanli-2 well, which has 2P reserves of 4.2 Bcf (Trillion’s 49 per cent interest). Trillion plans to add three sidetrack wells to the development programme for the SASB field, increasing the total number of wells for this Black Sea drilling campaign from 17 to 20.