Page 10 - MEOG Week 37 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Trillion moves rig to

SASB offshore Turkey

TURKEY CANADA’S Trillion Energy International has will prove to be, despite some big claims from the
issued an update on the status of the Uranus Rig Erdogan administration, but Trillion was cited as
mobilisation to the SASB gas field in the Black saying that the wells would come online “during
Sea, offshore Turkey. a time when acute natural gas shortages are men-
The Uranus Rig was scheduled to depart for acing Europe and Turkey. Natural gas prices con-
SASB on September 8 and arrive on September tinue to spike, breaking historical records; the
11, the company said. prospect of a cold winter looms with the worst
Trillion CEO Arthur Halleran said: “As Tril- shortages expected yet to come.”
lion is now able to sell its natural gas production Elsewhere in the Turkish Black Sea sector the
for US$30.68 per thousand cubic feet; and with pipelaying began on a conduit that will tie-back
the news today of Russia shutting off all natural the flagship Sakarya field ahead of first gas in
gas supply from the Nord-Stream pipeline until early 2023.
sanctions are lifted, we expect further upward The pipeline will connect the Sakarya gas
price pressure on natural gas to occur over the field, which lies around 150km offshore Turkey’s
winter. northern Zonguldak coast, to gas processing
“With the drilling rig arriving September facilities under construction at the port of Filyos.
11th, the first new gas production is expected Speaking to press there in early June, Turk-
around the end of October, 2022 which will cap- ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that
ture the high gas prices.” the first phase of Sakarya’s development would
Trillion is an oil and gas producing company yield 10mn cubic metres per day (3.65bn cubic
with assets in Turkey and Bulgaria – it holds a metres per year) of gas which will begin being
49% stake in the SASB gas field. fed into the national transmission system during
There remains considerable scepticism Q1 2023.
among oil and gas analysts as to how volumi- Capital expenditure of around $3.2bn is
nous Turkey’s Black Sea hydrocarbon resources believed to be required to achieve first gas.™

Iranian oilfield fire brought under

control amid sabotage claims

IRAN IRAN on September 13 brought a blaze at its the assassination of an Islamic Revolutionary
southwestern Shadegan oilfield under control Guard Corps (IRGC) colonel in May, a killing
amid suspicions that it was caused by sabotage, Tehran blamed on Israel and its Western allies.
IRIB reported. The IRGC said the shooting of Hassan Sayad
“Tampering by unknown elements” took Khodai in Tehran by two people on a motor-
place prior to the fire, Qobad Nasseri, head of the bike was the work of “terrorist groups affiliated
Marun Oil and Gas Production Co. (MOGPC), with global oppression [the West] and Zionism
which exploits Shadegan, located in Khuzestan [Israel].”
Province, told the state broadcaster. Shadegan oilfield was discovered in 1968 and
“The damage is being evaluated but the field oil production began 20 years later. Output from
will return to production shortly,” Nasseri added. the field comes from 20 producing wells, with
Khuzestan is home to Iran’s Arab minority, the production capacity amounting to around
long a province troubled by unrest. Recent years 70,000 barrels per day (bpd). In 2017, Russian
have seen a number of military and nuclear firm Zarubezhneft signed a memorandum of
sites across Iran targeted by unknown elements. understanding covering exploration efforts at
Tehran has accused Israel of being behind sev- Shadegan and the nearby Rag Sefid deposit, but
eral attacks and of assassinating Iranian nuclear the company withdrew from Iran a year later.
scientists. MOGPC is a subsidiary of the National Ira-
Also on September 13, a judiciary spokesman nian South Oil Co. (NISOC), itself a subsidiary
said authorities have arrested several people over of the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC).™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 14•September•2022