Turkey's 1st drillship to be sent to Mediterranean soon

By Ebru Sengul

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s first drilling ship will be sent to the Mediterranean Sea for offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling in the region as soon as possible, Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources said on Monday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Kazan Soda Electricity Production facility in Ankara, Albayrak hailed 2017 as a successful year for oil and natural gas exploration, and said the country's first active drillship is destined to open a new page in exploration for Turkey.

The country has already undertaken oil and gas exploration using two seismic ships, but the vessel will be the country's first active drillship.

The South Korean vessel was produced in 2011, has a length of 229 meters, and is capable of drilling to a maximum depth of 40,000 feet.

Albayrak noted that last year was also important in terms of the launch of Turkey's Renewable Energy Resources Zone (YEKA) tenders, which were significant in efforts aimed at reducing foreign energy source dependency.

"The YEKA tenders will continue in 2018 intensively as we try to make our country a center for wind and solar technology," he asserted.

As an energy importing country, energy costs are an important share of the country's current account deficit as Turkey is heavily dependent on foreign energy resources, including oil and natural gas. Consequently, part of the country's target is to increase the share of domestic and renewable sources in its total electricity generation.

In 2016, Turkey produced 32 percent of its electricity from natural gas, coal accounted for 32 percent, 25 percent was produced from hydroelectricity and the remaining share was generated through wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power plants.