Page 5 - MEOG Week 28 2022

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

of Filyos. TPAO discovered 320bn cubic metres TPAO has completed a 10-well drilling
of gas at the Tuna-1 well in August 2020 and campaign to facilitate phase one production,
this was subsequently upgraded to 405 bcm two but another 30 are planned to be drilled to ena-
months later and renamed Sakarya. ble peak output. To that end, TPAO recently
In June 2021, the company announced that it acquired a fourth drillship, and following main-
had found another 135 bcm with the Asmara-1 tenance work, this will join the Fatih, Kanuni
well, taking the total volume discovered so far at and Yavuz vessels, which have all been deployed
Sakarya to 540 bcm. to Sakarya. The new drillship – the Cobalt
Donmez said that work on subsea production Explorer, acquired from South Korea’s Daewoo
facilities at a depth of 2,200 metres continues Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in
“24/7”. Q4 last year – has been renamed from Abdulh-
In June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip amid Han.
Erdogan said that the field’s first development Erdogan added: “It is also important that
phase would yield 10mn cubic metres per day we make such a historical discovery with fully
(3.65 bcm per year) of gas which will begin being domestic resources.”
fed into the national transmission system during
Q1 2023. Capital expenditure of around $3.2bn East Med exploration
is believed to be required to achieve first gas. The location of those ‘domestic’ resources is
National transmission system operator again likely to be the cause of friction following
BOTAS said that the first section of the pipeline previous heightened tensions in the Eastern
would be completed on November 6, at which Mediterranean. Turkey has previously sent its
point it will be able to buy Sakarya gas and pipe it Yavuz drillship to waters internationally recog-
through its network. nised as Cypriot, claiming its right to explore
Speaking at the Grand National Assembly, in waters belonging to the Turkish Republic of
BOTAS general manager Burhan Ozcan said: Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by
“We need to be ready systematically when our Ankara.
Black Sea gas comes into operation in 2023. Donmez said that the destination for Abdul-
All infrastructure works related to this have hamid Han’s first drill under TPAO operator-
been planned and investments have been initi- ship has not yet been determined, noting only
ated,” Ozcan said at the Turkish Grand National that it would be in the ‘Blue Homeland’ – a 2016
Assembly. doctrine that lays claim to a 462bn-square km
He added: “The carrying capacity of our swathe of sea that includes the country’s share
infrastructure will be 18-20 bcm per year […] of the Black Sea, much of the Aegean and the
The day TPAO brings 40 mcm ashore, we will be northern half of the Eastern Mediterranean, up
in a position to carry it.” to the southern coast of Crete.
Meanwhile, Erdogan added that output from Any such move is likely to prompt interna-
Sakarya would ramp up to reach a peak output tional condemnation, and given the importance
level of around 15 bcm per year in 2026, a year of expediting Sakarya, it would appear to make
later than previous guidance. little sense.™

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