Subsea7 expands its scope for giant Black Sea gas project with IRM services

Subsea7 has secured a contract with Turkish Petroleum Offshore Technology Center (TP-OTC) to provide inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services for Türkiye’s largest natural gas field.

The contract for the Sakarya gas field development in the Black Sea includes project management and engineering executed and managed from Subsea7 offices in Istanbul, Türkiye, and Aberdeen, Scotland, as well as the provision of equipment, including two work-class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and construction personnel onboard TP-OTC’s light construction vessel Mukavemet.

Offshore operations will be performed in 2025 and 2026.

Subsea7 said the contract was a sizeable one, meaning it is worth between $50 million and $150 million.

Hani El Kurd, Senior Vice President of UK and Global Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance at Subsea7, said: “We are pleased to have been selected to deliver IRM services for TP-OTC in the Black Sea. This contract demonstrates our strategy to deliver engineering solutions across the full asset lifecycle in close collaboration with our clients. We look forward to continuing to work alongside TP-OTC to optimise gas production from the Sakarya field and strengthen our long-term presence in Türkiye.”

Sakarya, the largest natural gas field discovered in Türkiye, is located approximately 150 kilometers off the coast of Ereğli.

To remind, Turkish Petroleum hired a consortium consisting of SLB, Subsea7, and Saipem on an engineering, procurement, construction, and installation contract in May 2023 for the second planned development phase of the Sakarya gas field, consisting of subsea production systems (SPS) and subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF).

The project execution will be overseen by Saipem and Subsea Integration Alliance, formed by OneSubsea – the subsea technologies, production, and processing systems business of SLB and Subsea7. 

Türkiye a couple of months ago welcomed the arrival of its first-ever floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will double the gas production from the deepwater gas field once it kicks off its 20-year assignment in 2026.

Saipem’s pipelay vessel Castorone is currently on its way to the project site where it will perform offshore pipeline installation.