DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Turkish drilling vessel Fatih started drilling first well Alanya-1 in offshore Antalya, a Mediterranean coastal province, Oct. 30.
Turkish drilling vessel Fatih began its first well-drilling operations yesterday in the Mediterranean. The country looks to boost its presence in the region with another well next month, and a second drillship in the near future
Efforts to cement Turkey’s position as a key energy player in the highly contested and competitive Mediterranean region were crowned with the launch of its first well-drilling operations off Alanya yesterday, a district in the Mediterranean province of Antalya. The drilling operations in the Mediterranean will continue with another well off the coast of Mersin next month. Turkey is also planning to add a second drilling vessel to its fleet. It will secure Turkey’s rights in the Mediterranean as per international law. The country looks to become more active in drilling operations in the near future. The 229-meter vessel is capable of drilling to a maximum depth of 12,192 meters. The first well is planned to reach a depth of 5,500 meters, according to reports.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said Turkey would conduct deep drilling works with its own vessel for the deep-water well Alanya-1, as part of its efforts to utilize its domestic resources.
“Our want to dig two drilling wells on average a year with Fatih,” Dönmez said, adding that the first drilling in Alanya-1 is planned for a period of nearly 150 days.
Turkey is already undertaking oil and gas exploration activities with two seismic vessels.
The country’s first seismic vessel, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa, which was bought from Norway in 2013, has been conducting exploration operations in the Mediterranean since April 2017. As a result of the analysis of seismic data, Dönmez said, the decision to drill the first well was made.
Additionally, Turkey’s second vessel, the MTA Oruç Reis, which Turkish engineers built at a local shipyard in Istanbul in June, is undertaking exploration work in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Fatih, formerly the Deepsea Metro II, arrived in the city of Antalya in June in preparation for the start of Turkey’s first deep drilling project in the region.
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Categories: Europe, Europe and Australia, European Union, Turkey
