Saipem vessel coming to work on ‘one of the largest energy projects ever in Turkey’

Italian oilfield contractor Saipem is preparing to begin working under its contract with Turkey’s national oil and gas company TPAO, which will include the transportation and installation of pipes for the country’s giant gas development in the Black Sea.

It is worth mentioning that Turkey has recently decided to change its name to Türkiye and the United Nations accepted this proposal following a request from Ankara.

In a social media update on Sunday, TPAO revealed that Saipem’s Castoro 10 vessel was in Çanakkale, a city in northwestern Turkey. The vessel arrived in Turkey to work on the Sakarya gas field development, described as one of the largest energy projects ever built in Turkey, located in the Black Sea. As part of the project, the vessel will lay and install the pipes that will carry the natural gas in the shallow water area.

According to the latest AIS data, the Castoro 10 is en route to Filyos, Turkey where it is expected to arrive on Wednesday, 8 June 2022. The vessel departed Schiedam, the Netherlands on 15 May 2022.

Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Fatih Dönmez, also said on Sunday that the vessel left the Dardanelles and sailed towards Filyos. It is a coastal town in the Black Sea region where the country is building a natural gas processing facility for the 540 billion cubic meters of gas discovered in the Black Sea.

“We are leaving behind a critical phase in the Black Sea gas and one step closer to the target.”

Sakarya gas field development project comprises a subsea gas production system, a receiving and processing terminal on the Filyos shore, and pipelines to connect them. The project is expected to achieve the first gas in the first quarter of 2023.

Saipem secured a contract to work on the first deepwater natural gas field discovered in the Black Sea, about 175 km offshore the coast of Eregli, back in November 2021. The contract entails the transportation and installation of pipelines to a 2,200-meter water depth.

Under the contract, the offshore operations were expected to begin in spring 2022. Announcing the contract award, Saipem said that operations would be conducted mainly by the Castorone vessel.

Offshore Energy has reached out to Saipem, seeking further details about these operations but we have yet to receive a response.

A consortium between Subsea 7 and Schlumberger is in charge of engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) for the project’s subsea equipment under a contract awarded back in October 2021.

Dönmez has recently said that the first construction activities for the pipeline will begin in June and July. According to the minister, Turkey will begin laying the first pipes from the shore on 10 June. The vessel that will lay the pipes in the deepwater part will arrive in Turkey in July.

Turkish daily newspaper Milliyet reported on Monday that 30 vessels will work simultaneously on operations related to laying the pipes to transport the gas from the 10-well area 170 km offshore to the shore.

As the country is working to develop its extensive gas resources amid a growing need for the security of supply, it has also recently welcomed the fourth drillship to its fleet, which was bought from a South Korean shipyard last year.

The drillship arrived in Turkey in May and, following a two-month preparation period at the Taşucu Port, it will start drilling operations in the Eastern Mediterranean.