First well in Black Sea drilling campaign uncovers multiple potential gas zones

Canada’s oil and gas producer Trillion Energy has drilled the first well in its 2022 – 2023 drilling campaign on a natural gas field in the Black Sea off Türkiye. This well has identified numerous potential gas zones on logging.

Back in February 2022, Trillion Energy hired a rig for its multi-well drilling programme on the SASB natural gas field, when its subsidiary, Park Place Energy Turkey Limited, and Romania’s GSP Offshore inked a memorandum of understanding, which was followed by a definitive offshore drilling services contract three months later.

Following delays due to maintenance and weather conditions in the Black Sea, Trillion started its drilling campaign on the SASB field – a shallow-water conventional gas field – after the arrival of the Uranus rig to the Akçakoca platform in September 2022. As disclosed at the time, three directional wells would be drilled from this platform, along with a recompletion of an existing well.

Since Trillion plans to drill initial seven wells followed by another estimated ten wells prior to undertaking further exploration activities, the Uranus rig is slated to move to the next of the three platforms at the SASB field to continue the work programme after the activities at the Akçakoca platform are completed.

In an update on Thursday, Trillion announced the preliminary gas indications from the first gas well – South Akçakoca 2 – in its multi-well programme, explaining that this well reached 2,826 metres total depth (TD) on 15 October. This is 1,543.6 metres true vertical depth (TVD).

Arthur Halleran, CEO of Trillion, remarked: “We are very pleased to have successfully drilled the first directional well in our multi-well programme at SASB. This well was drilled on budget, both in time and capital, so demonstrates proof of concept for drilling long-reach direction wells from existing platforms to tap the new natural gas pools.”

Furthermore, the Canadian player revealed that the logging while drilling (LWD) results suggest there are 32 metres of potential natural gas pay within five sands in the Akcakoca – SASB production zone – with two sands greater than 10 meters of gas pay each. Moreover, the LWD identified gas sands also had natural gas detected at the surface in the mud logging, according to Trillion.

The company further outlined that the 7” production casing is set and cemented while completion, perforation and actual testing to determine natural gas production rates are anticipated to occur in the following days.

“The preliminary identified gas pay thickness already confirms our geological model used in our drilling location selections. We are excited to see the tested actual gas flow rates, which will occur soon,” added Halleran.

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