Abdülhamid Han ship starts drilling at Amasra well in Black Sea

ISTANBUL

Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has announced that the Abdülhamid Han ship has begun its first drilling operation at the Amasra-4 well in the Black Sea as part of efforts to boost natural gas production.

The Abdülhamid Han ship’s drilling activities will last about 30 days, Bayraktar said in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Türk.

Türkiye’s daily natural gas production has reached 8 million cubic meters, the minister added.

Production at the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea is around 7 million cubic meters per day.

“Natural gas for the consumption of 2.8 million households is now produced in the Black Sea. There is a small production in the Thrace region, approximately 1-1.5 million cubic meters. Presently, we produce 8 million cubic meters of natural gas per day,” Bayraktar said.

Natural gas plays a crucial role in Türkiye’s energy strategy. The discovery of significant gas reserves in the Black Sea in 2020 has been a game-changer for the country.

Türkiye is conducting oil and natural gas exploration, and production activities continue inside the country and abroad with the aim of reducing dependence on imported energy.

The minister reminded that the Oruç Reis vessel was deployed to Somalia for six to seven months to conduct seismic studies for oil exploration.

Elaborating on operations abroad, Bayraktar said: “We have a daily production of approximately 40,000 barrels in Iraq, Russia and Azerbaijan… Our production in Türkiye has exceeded 110,000 barrels.”

The minister added that more natural gas is produced in the Caspian Sea through partnerships in the Shah Deniz Project than in Türkiye itself.

The country’s import dependency on natural gas declined to 85 percent, he added.

Türkiye is developing projects in Libya, Niger, Sudan, Somalia and other regions on oil, natural gas and minerals, the minister noted.

“We are currently operating in three gold fields in Niger. God willing, first gold production may start in 2025,” Bayraktar added.

He also said talks are ongoing for the nuclear power plants planned to be built in the Black Sea province of Sinop and the Thrace Region.

“We are open to cooperation in this field…Among the offers, those that give the most favorable electricity price and the greatest contribution to employment are evaluated,” he added.

The minister said that Turkish companies had gained significant expertise during the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and that this experience could be applied to other planned nuclear plants.

Highlighting significant opportunities for cooperation with Western companies in small modular reactors, Bayraktar noted that discussions have also taken place with American companies and officials.