Join our crew and become one of the 109,187 members that receive our newsletter.

fatih drillship black sea

Drillship Fatih Makes Huge Black Sea Discovery

Bloomberg
Total Views: 194
August 21, 2020

Turkey’s Fatih Drillship underway in the Black Sea. Image via Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakl???

By Selcan Hacaoglu (Bloomberg) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has found 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the biggest ever discovery in the Black Sea, and hopes to begin production by 2023.

The lira and benchmark share index both gave up gains, though, possibly reflecting disappointment among investors over the size of the deposit.

”We have conducted this operation completely through national means,” Erdogan said Friday in a much-trailed press conference at his office in Istanbul. “We didn’t even rely one bit on foreign sources in drilling operations.”

READ: Cyprus: EU ‘appeasement’ Of Turkey In Drillship Dispute Will ‘go nowhere’

The Fatih drillship located the gas in the so-called Tuna-1 field, he said, and exploration is continuing in other fields.

“The question now is how much of this gas is recoverable,” said Jonathan Lamb, oil and gas senior analyst at Wood & Company, a Czech investment bank. “This is not clear yet. What the market really wants to know also is how much they can produce per year, but I don’t think they are in the position to say that yet.”

The Borsa Istanbul 100 index fell as much as 1.8%, while shares in energy companies including refiner Tupras, Aksa Enerji and Aygaz dropped sharply after the news.

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up
Back to Main
polygon icon polygon icon

Why Join the gCaptain Club?

Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.

Sign Up
close

JOIN OUR CREW

Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 109,187 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.

gCaptain’s full coverage of the maritime shipping industry, including containerships, tankers, dry bulk, LNG, breakbulk and more.