WATCH: FPU heads off to Black Sea ahead of doubling Türkiye’s gas production in 2026

As part of its efforts to wean itself off energy imports and bolster its domestic production capacity, Türkiye has sent its first-ever floating production unit (FPU) on a journey to the Black Sea, where it is expected to enable a twofold increase in gas production from the country’s giant deepwater natural gas field, after it begins its assignment next year.

On a quest to boost its homegrown energy resources and strengthen its energy security, Türkiye has intensified its attempts to shore up power supplies by buying a floating production unit in 2023 and signing a string of ten-year LNG deals with ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies last year.

In addition, BOTAŞ made a deal with India’s Swan Energy in August 2024 to acquire its stake in a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), after the duo inked a lease agreement for the FSRU Vasant One, built by Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Following its departure from Singapore in July 2024, the country’s new FPSO, purchased from BW Offshore, came to Çanakkale last year onboard Boskalis’ Vanguard semi-submersible heavy transport vessel after a 51-day journey. The unit will be used at the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea.

The national oil and gas giant, Türkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO); Alparslan Bayraktar, Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources; and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, confirmed that the 300-meter-long floating production platform, now known as Osman Gazi, left the Bosphorus to go to the Black Sea.

“We are strengthening our energy infrastructure and expanding our production capacity. We are working with determination and the spirit of conquest, and we are gradually approaching the goal of a fully independent Türkiye in energy,” emphasized Bayraktar.

With the size of three standard football fields, the FPU Osman Gazi will come online in 2026, raising the daily production bar from 9.5 million cubic meters to 20 million cubic meters at the Sakarya gas field. The unit will operate uninterruptedly for 20 years with the capacity to meet the natural gas needs of 8 million households with domestic resources.

Turkish Petroleum (TP) picked a consortium entailing SLB, Subsea7, and Saipem in May 2023 for the second planned development phase of the field, consisting of subsea production systems (SPS) and subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF).

While the project execution will be overseen by Saipem and Subsea Integration Alliance, Subsea7 won a separate contract with the Turkish Petroleum Offshore Technology Center (TP-OTC) in May 2024 to take care of the installation of Türkiye’s first floating production unit as part of the second development phase.

FPU Osman Gazi sets off to Black Sea

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The second phase of the Sakarya field, which achieved its first gas in April 2023, is forecast to meet nearly 30% of the country’s gas requirements by 2030, based on the information provided by Ashley Sherman, Wood Mackenzie‘s Upstream Research Director for Caspian and Europe.

Recently, the Abdülhamid Han drillship drilled the Göktepe-3 well in the Black Sea, which led to a gas discovery of 75 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

“Our energy infrastructure is getting stronger, our production capacity is growing. We are resolutely moving towards our goal of a fully independent Türkiye in energy,” highlighted TPAO.