Rig moves to fourth well in Black Sea drilling campaign

Canada’s oil and gas producer Trillion Energy has started drilling the fourth well in its 2022 – 2023 drilling campaign on a natural gas field in the Black Sea off Türkiye. 

After hiring the Uranus jack-up rig in May 2022, Trillion spudded its first well, South Akçakoca-2, in the drilling campaign on the SASB natural gas field in September 2022, once the rig arrived at the Akçakoca platform. The following month, the Canadian firm disclosed preliminary gas indications from this well, after numerous potential gas zones were identified on logging.

Come November 2022, the flow test results for the well were revealed and the company started the recompletion work on the second well – Akçakoca-3 – in its drilling programme for this shallow-water conventional gas field. Once the well came on stream, the company announced the well’s flow test results.

At the end of last month, Trillion Energy reported that the Uranus rig was repositioned to drill the West Akçakoca-1 well, the third one in the firm’s SASB development programme. At the time, the Canadian player underlined that both the West Akçakoca-1 and Guluc-2 wells would be spudded a few weeks apart and completed in sequence.

In an update on Monday, Trillion confirmed the spudding of the Guluc-2 well at the SASB natural gas field took place following the completion of the West Akçakoca-1 17 ½” diameter section to 1,008 metres depth. 

Furthermore, the company explained that the drilling of the Guluc-2 well 17 ½’ section to 1,008 metres was in progress. Once the well is drilled to the total depth, it will be perforated and tested. Upon completion of this well, the rig will move back and complete the West Akçakoca-1 well.

Both of these wells are long-reach directional wells being drilled from the Akçakoca platform and targeting gas reserves at both the east and west perimeter of the Akçakoca gas field.  

Once these activities are completed, gas will be sold to the market “almost immediately,” outlines Trillion. The Guluc-2 well is expected to start production towards the end of January 2023 while the West Akçakoca-1 well is anticipated to come online by March 2023.

Trillion Energy underscores that the gas sale revenues generated from these wells will be used for further field development. After the wells at the Akçakoca platform are completed, the rig will move to the East Ayazli tripod at the SASB field.

Moreover, the Canadian firm’s development programme initially includes seven production wells coming online during a time when “acute natural gas shortages are menacing Europe and Türkiye.” Trillion Energy says that the drilling of additional ten wells is expected to follow after the initial seven-well programme is complete.