Turkey’s first drillship Fatih was deployed on its first mission by energy minister Fatih Donmez on 30 October to drill the deep-water Alanya-1 prospect, 100km off the coast of Antalya. Ankara is looking to strike oil or gas to help reduce its heavy reliance on energy imports.
Mr Donmez speaking at the launch ceremony said the Turkish Petroleum (TPAO)-operated Fatih would drill to a depth of 5,500ms, over approximately 150 days after which the ‘conqueror’ would set course to drill in shallow waters off Mersin. A further drill is planned for the Finike-1 prospect in late 2019. (CONTINUED - 216 WORDS)