WATCH: Türkiye edging closer to first gas from giant Black Sea project as pipe laying work wraps up

Türkiye has finished laying pipes in the Black Sea as part of its giant Sakarya gas field project development, which is seen as one of its largest energy projects ever built. As a result, the country is close to crossing the finish line with the first gas from this Black Sea project slated for the first quarter of 2023.

Turkish national oil and gas company TPAO started laying pipes in June 2022 to connect the processing facility and the subsea production facility as part of its giant Sakarya gas field project development, which was discovered in August 2020 with the Fatih drillship.

After bringing in the country’s first drillship, Fatih, in 2017, Yavuz in 2018, and Kanuni in 2020, TPAO bought its fourth drillship, Abdülhamid Han, in 2021. The fourth drillship left South Korea in March 2022 and reached Türkiye in May 2022. The drillship was sent on its first drilling mission in the East Mediterranean in August 2022, following a ceremony attended by President Recep Erdoğan and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Dönmez.

The Sakarya gas development project entails the establishment of a subsea production facility at a depth of 2,200 meters, 170 kilometres north of Filyos, the 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.

Saipem’s Castoro 10 vessel was in charge of laying the pipes in the shallow water while the Castorone vessel was in charge of the deeper sections. The Italian giant 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.

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. In addition, 30 vessels were expected to work simultaneously on operations related to laying the pipes to transport the gas from the 10-well area 170 km offshore to the shore.

In an update on Friday, Fatih Dönmez, Türkiye’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, revealed the construction of the 170-kilometre seabed pipeline, stretching from the production facility to the Filyos port onshore, was completed. This was also confirmed by TPAO. Along with this milestone, 80 per cent of the Filyos natural gas processing facility is now finished.

“The construction of the 170-kilometre 16-inch pipeline, which will transport Black Sea gas, and the other 10-inch pipeline, related to the transport of some chemicals to the production site, have been completed. In addition, the laying of the land point that will transport the gas that BOTAŞ will receive from here to the national system is finished,” outlined Dönmez.

Moreover, the assembly of the manifold connecting the pipelines – to be used for different purposes under the sea – is expected to be done soon while the drilling of nine out of ten wells identified in the Sakarya field has been completed. Türkiye expects production of around 10 million cubic meters per day from Phase I of the Sakarya gas project while Phase II will see the addition of 20 to 25 wells to the field, enabling daily production of 40 million cubic meters.

Commenting on the anticipated increase in production, Dönmez remarked: “When we look at that number, we will actually be able to produce all of the gas used in houses from the Black Sea,” while also emphasising that Türkiye’s “biggest goal has always been to reduce our dependence on foreign energy in energy.” 

On 18 November, Dönmez toured and inspected the construction of the Filyos natural gas processing facility with a delegation, which included Mehmet Akarca, President of the Supreme Court; Zeki Yiğit, President of the Council of State; Metin Yener, President of the Court of Accounts; Bekir Şahin, Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court; İbrahim Şenel, Head of Strategy and Budget at the Presidency and Mustafa Tutulmaz, Governor of Zonguldak.

Dönmez also examined the manifold to be sent to the Sakarya gas field in order to connect the Black Sea gas to the transmission line. While reminding that significant ground has been covered in the construction of this onshore gas processing facility, Dönmez highlighted: “As of today, the construction of all the transmission lines on the seaside has been completed. Testing and commissioning are in progress.

“The pipeline that will take this gas from this facility and connect it to the national natural gas transmission system has also been completed. Testing and commissioning processes continue there.”

Furthermore, Dönmez underlines that this project provides the know-how and the ability to implement similar projects in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and different geographies of the world.

“We are also pleased to have reached this point in a short time,” added Dönmez.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to usher in a major gas crunch in Europe, Türkiye’s development of the giant Sakarya field comes at a time when the security of the energy supply is at the forefront of countries’ agendas worldwide.

This project, which has 540 billion cubic meters of gas discovered, is expected to deliver the first gas in the first quarter of 2023.