TPAO awards US firm contract for drilling support

The state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has hired Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services firm, to help with its offshore drilling in the Mediterranean Sea.

The American company said in its report on third quarter data for 2018 it will provide support to TPAO for oil exploration activities in the Mediterranean.

In the report, Schlumberger said it would provide technical support to Turkey's first drilling vessel, Fatih, which will initiate operations in the Mediterranean.

"Turkish Petroleum awarded Schlumberger an ISM contract valued at $15 million to drill the deepwater well Alanya-1 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. ISM [Integrated Services Management] will coordinate multiple product lines as well as provide project management services on Turkish Petroleum's ultra-deepwater drillship, Fatih," the company said in its report. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez announced earlier this month that Fatih will initiate drilling operations in the Mediterranean by the end of this month.

The vessel, named after the conqueror of Istanbul, Ottoman Sultan Fatih Sultan Mehmet, sailed to the Mediterranean earlier in May to start the country's first deep-sea drilling operations.

The drilling vessel Fatih is equipped with cutting-edge technology, is 229 meters (751 feet) long and can drill to a maximum depth of 12,000 meters. The first well will reach a depth of 2,600 meters.

In late September, TPAO also awarded Houston-based Rowan Companies a two-well contract in the Mediterranean Sea with an estimated duration of 100-140 days. The company's N-class jack-up rig Rowan Norway is expected to start operations late this year. The Rowan Norway is currently warm-stacked in the U.K. sector of the North Sea. Rowan is a global provider of contract drilling services with a fleet of 27 mobile offshore drilling units composed of 23 self-elevating jack-up rigs and four ultra-deepwater drillships.