Several wells on drilling agenda in 2024 for giant Black Sea gas field

Canada’s oil and gas player Trillion Energy has unveiled its plans for the rest of the year along with its new multi-well drilling program at a natural gas field in the Black Sea off Türkiye, which is planned for next year.

This comes after the Canadian firm revealed its plans to add three sidetrack wells to the development program for the SASB field, increasing the total number of wells from 17 to 20. Trillion is currently undertaking a work program to optimize production on this natural gas field to ensure all six previously drilled and completed wells will be producing concurrently on a managed basis.

In line with this, a booster compressor is being added at the Cayagzi gas process facility during the week to reduce the inlet pressure, which is currently 125 to 135 psi, down to 50 to 60 psi. This upgrade is expected to add 4.9 – 5.3 MMcf/d production across the wells.

The company explains that the perforation of 37 meters of additional pay in three of the six production wells is slated to occur in October 2023. The installation of an artificial lift to reduce water loading in two of the six wells is also in the pipeline. Once the optimal design is confirmed and tested, ESP pumps will be installed in all wells that could benefit from artificial lift to maintain long-term production.

In addition, a third-party engineering firm has been engaged to make recommendations on optimizing production and facility operations. The ESP pump to be installed with 2 3/8” production tubing in the 4 ½” casing is expected to reduce water head pressure in selected wells.

Furthermore, Trillion is planning multiple activities and budgeted capital expenditures for 2024. Currently, the firm has $1.7 million of net cash on hand and 77.9 million common shares outstanding. On a fully-diluted basis, the Canadian company has 79.2 million in-the-money (ITM) fully diluted shares outstanding with ITM proceeds of approximately $0.8 million.

In a bid to meet its 2024 production guidance, Trillion plans to drill five new sidetracked production wells from existing platforms at the SASB gas field development to raise the total number of producing wells to 11. Additionally, the Black Sea drilling campaign at the field will include at least one exploration well targeting potential stratigraphic natural gas prospects, as the current six wells are structural deposits. 

During 2024, the Canadian player plans to complete seismic acquisition and drill two exploration wells at its oil exploration blocks in S.E. Turkiye. The wells’ locations will be determined based on the planned seismic acquisition beginning in 4Q 2023. The planned oil exploration program is potentially high-impact given the geological setting and series of recent discoveries made in the region.

Arthur Halleran, Trillion’s CEO, commented: “We are 100% focused on realizing the production potential at SASB through both our current and future development programs. Overall, we are pleased with the amount of gas we have discovered in our initial six wells and now it is time to profit from it.

“With SASB well on its way, we also look to adding high-impact oil exploration to Trillion for 2024 in the prolific Cudi-Gabar Oil Petroleum Province.”