Turkey begins laying Sakarya pipeline
Turkey has started development of a pipeline that will link its upcoming Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea to national infrastructure, accelerating plans to meet its domestic gas shortfall.
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially launched the project via video call. Developers are currently laying the first 400-km pipe section, running from the port town of Filyos to the field 170 km off Turkey's shoreline. Sakarya lies in water depths of around 2,000m. It has been hailed as the largest gas find in Turkish history.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
Turkey depends heavily on natural gas imports – last year, it met around 45% of consumption with Russian deliveries, and the rest came from Iran and Azerbaijan, the report said. Meanwhile, Turkish gas consumption soared from 48bn m3 in 2020 to 60bn m3 in 2021. It is expected to reach 62-63bn m3 this year.
Sakarya is estimated to contain 405bn m3 in reserves, and will deliver low-cost gas for domestic power generation, helping the country limit imports. It will produce 10mn m3/d of gas during the initial phase, due to start in the first quarter of next year, before ramping up toward peak output by 2026.
A recent flow test at the Turkali-1 appraisal well in January 2022 yielded 1.15mn m3/day of gas, and achieved "excellent well deliverability and reservoir connectivity."