Turkey will send a second drill ship to the East Med in July to launch operations in the region after being roundly condemned for entering Cyprus’ EEZ last month.
Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said Turkey's first drilling vessel (Fatih) will continue operations in the region (off Cyprus) as planned.
The second drilling vessel Yavuz, the Fatih's twin in terms of technical qualities, is also scheduled for well drills next month.
"We have completed 80% of our upgrade activities of Yavuz by using domestic technology. The drillship will be ready to start drilling wells in the Eastern Mediterranean in July. Our two vessels, Fatih and Yavuz, will carry our flag in the Eastern Mediterranean," said Donmez.
The sixth-generation drillship Yavuz was bought by Turkish Petroleum for $262.5 mln and has a length of 229 meters and weighs 21,283 gross tons.
The minister said, “the seismic vessel Oruç Reis is carrying out survey operations in the Sea of Marmara and the Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa is continuing to collect seismic data in Nicosia-2, one of the licensed blocks of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)”.
The energy minister stressed that Turkey will adamantly continue to protect its own sovereign rights “and the rights of the Turkish Cypriots in the region”.
"We aim to use the hydrocarbon resources in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for the benefit of our people."
Turkey has faced international condemnation for entering Cyprus’ EEZ which it does not recognise.
Ankara has no normal diplomatic relations with the EU member state and is the only country that recognises the breakaway Turkish Cypriot regime in the occupied north of the island.
Dönmez said that Turkish Petroleum broke a 17-year record in domestic oil production by exceeding 43,500 barrels per day in 2018.
"So far this year, the daily oil production is recorded at 45,800 barrels per day… The oil reserves discovered in Siirt and Diyarbakır are estimated around 22.52 million barrels," Dönmez said.
"These discoveries will make a $700 million contribution to the Turkish economy," he added.
The minister explained that Turkish Petroleum produces oil in 1,220 wells and natural gas in 113 wells across Turkey. The private sector companies also produce oil in 252 wells and natural gas in more than 110 wells.
The aggregate oil production of public and private companies was recorded at 4.8 million barrels in the first quarter. Natural gas production posted a 33% rise, hitting 134.5 million cubic meters in the said period.
