​Natural gas discovery: I can neither deny nor confirm....

TURKEY - In Brief 24 Aug 2020 by Atilla Yesilada

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Upon hearing President Erdogan’s “good tidings” on Friday, which turned out to be a modest natural gas reservoir in Black Sea, with hints of much bigger surprises to come, I set out to write a comprehensive essay on Turkey’s natural gas market and how the discovery would alter its dynamics. However, my humble investigations over the weekend now lead me to believe that at best Turkish Petroleum Company (TPAO) discovered a potential gas field, the technical and economic feasibility of extraction from which needs many steps of confirmation. Thus, this much shorter essay focuses on what has been found and the potential to benefit from it in an economical sense. A good starting point is the announcement by TPAO: “TPAO discovers a colossal gas field in Western Black Sea offshore, first ever gas discovery in Turkish ultra-deep water Discovery, after full development, will satisfy Turkey’s natural gas demand for decades.Tuna-1 well data and geophysical studies show a potential of 320 billion cubic meters of lean gas which represents the largest discovery in Black Sea. There is also an expectation of additional upside potential down at the undrilled section of the well. Sakarya Block is located 175 km offshore Ereğli, Turkey. Tuna-1 ultra-deep water exploration well in block AR/TPO/KD/C26-C27-D26-D27, 100 percent TPAO equity, drilled with 6th generation drillship ‘’Fatih’’ which was purchased in 2018 by TPAO. Entire block is 7000 square kilometers. The well, which was drilled in 2115 meters of water depth reaching a final total depth of 4525 meters, encountered more than 100 meters of natural gas bearing reservoir in Pliocene and Miocene sands. According to detailed Tuna-1 data...