Turkish Survey Vessel ‘Fatıh’ Begins New Gas Exploration Mission in Black Sea
The Turkish survey vessel ‘Fatıh’ has started a new mission to explore for natural gas in the Black Sea, with operations set to take place near the border with Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, announced this on Turkish state television Haber.
Bayraktar stated that the vessel ‘Fatıh’ would depart from the port of Filyos in Zonguldak, northwest Turkey, to conduct its first mission of the year in the southwestern part of the Sakaria field. The new location has been identified as promising for discovering new gas reserves.
"In the second phase of our work in the Black Sea, we will explore new areas, new potential fields, and new potential reserves," Bayraktar declared.
Turkey has significantly expanded its exploration activities in the Black Sea over the last decade to reduce its dependence on imported gas and oil. The country has invested in building a modern fleet of survey and seismic vessels, including ‘Fatıh’, ‘Abdülhamid Han’, ‘Kanuni’, and ‘Yavuz’, as well as seismic vessels ‘Oruç Reis’ and ‘Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa’.
The ‘Fatıh’, an ultra-deepwater drillship of the sixth generation, was built in South Korea in 2011 and began its drilling activities in 2017. In 2020, the vessel discovered 320 billion cubic meters of gas in the Sakaria field, followed by several more significant findings that brought the total up to 710 billion cubic meters of gas to date.
Source: https://news.bg/int-economics/turtsiya-zayavi-che-v-cherno-more-imalo-gaz-za-tseliya-svyat.html