Turkish Petroleum's Black Sea Exploration Expansion

Turkish Petroleum has initiated drilling of a new wildcat well, named Eflani-1, in the central Black Sea, approximately 130 kilometers east of its major Sakarya gas discoveries. This move marks a strategic expansion of exploration efforts beyond the western waters where the company has already made significant gas finds. The state-owned oil company, which operates a fleet of six drillships, announced plans to drill six exploration wells in the Black Sea in 2026, along with additional wells overseas.

The drillship Fatih arrived at the Black Sea location on April 14 and is currently drilling the Eflani-1 wildcat, with operations expected to conclude by around June 7, according to navigation warnings and marine intelligence data. This well is being drilled on newly acquired 3D seismic data and targets structures within a Plio-Miocene gas play.

Geological Context and Comparisons

According to Ciaran Nolan, director of Nolan Geoscience, the Eflani-1 well is located about 48 kilometers northwest of ExxonMobil's legacy Kastamonu-1 well and 102 kilometers east of Turkish Petroleum's Amasra gas discovery. The Kastamonu-1 well, drilled in 2011 on 2D seismic data, encountered Plio-Miocene sands with low gas saturations. Nolan noted that Amasra, Kastamonu, and Eflani all exhibit strong, soft amplitude seismic responses consistent with gas-bearing sands.

Emerging Global Play

These gas reservoirs, situated in deep water but buried at shallow depths, represent a new and emerging global play that was previously avoided and overlooked. Nolan highlighted that state-owned companies in the Middle East and Asia, in particular, are leading the development of this resource type. Turkish Petroleum has also recently spudded the Curad-1 wildcat offshore Somalia, further diversifying its international exploration portfolio.