Türkiye’s drillship makes ‘large’ gas find in Black Sea

As part of Türkiye’s mission to cut its reliance on foreign natural gas and diversify its sources of supply, the country is conducting oil and gas exploration activities. One of the drillships tasked with searching for hydrocarbon reserves has found a new natural gas discovery in the Black Sea.

While confirming a new natural gas discovery at the Göktepe 3 well, made with the Abdülhamid Han drillship in the Black Sea and originally disclosed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Alparslan Bayraktar, Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, underlined that the country’s goal was to utilize the newly discovered gas reserves of 75 billion cubic meters as soon as possible.

The country’s national oil and gas giant, Türkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO), bought its fourth drillship, Abdülhamid Han, in 2021. The drillship left South Korea in March 2022 and reached Türkiye in May 2022. The rig was sent on its first drilling mission in the East Mediterranean in August 2022.

Bayraktar highlighted: “We have discovered a large reserve of 75 billion cubic meters, with a market value of $30 billion, which can provide natural gas to all households in Türkiye for 3 and a half years. This is important for us. Because Türkiye’s economy has grown from 230 billion dollars to 1.3 trillion dollars under AK Party rule.”

While reminding that President Erdoğan put forward the vision of the Century of Türkiye in the 100th year of the Republic to make the country “fully independent” in the energy arena, Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources points out that energy imports are a great burden on the economy.

Bayraktar added: “We provide a great support as the treasury in order to take this burden from our citizens. Today, as the state, we cover almost 70 percent of the natural gas you use. As the state, we cover 50 percent of the electricity used. As these discoveries, our natural gas production in Sakarya and our oil production in Gabar increase, we will continue to make them.”

According to the country’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Abdülhamid Han rig drilled the Göktepe-3 well at a water depth of 2,154 meters in the middle of the Black Sea and about 1,200 meters lower underneath the seabed.

Given its size of 75 billion cubic meters of natural gas, Bayraktar sees this as “a very important discovery,” which will reduce foreign dependency. The minister also underscores that 81,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in Gabar, which makes “an economic contribution of 2 billion dollars a year, almost 80 billion liras.”

Recently, TPAO joined the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), an initiative that aims to reduce the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the oil and gas industry.