Data from the Turkey-focused Canadian energy company Valeura Energy has confirmed positive results for its unconventional drilling near the Yamalık-1 and İnanlı-1 wells in Turkey's Thrace region, the company announced Friday.

Results from its Basin Centered Gas Accumulation (BCGA) appraisal program of Valeura and its partner Equinor show that reservoir and over-pressured gas are present down to almost 5,000 meters, some 20 kilometers distance from both the Yamalık-1 and İnanlı-1 wells in the Thrace region.

Valeura's CEO and President, Sean Guest, said at this stage the company has nearly a dozen wells across the basin, including Yamalık-1, İnanlı-1, Devepınar-1 and eight other legacy wells that demonstrate the presence of over-pressured gas and a laterally continuous objective reservoir.

"We are encouraged by the preliminary results we have seen from drilling and logging Devepınar-1," he said.

He explained that the basin coverage is almost 500,000 acres with drilling conducted up to a mile of continuous gross gas column.

"The scale of the resource is significant, and while we have a very good understanding of the basin's geology and the presence of over-pressured gas, we have as yet only partially stimulated and flow tested one exploration well, Yamalık-1.

"Our near-term focus is shifting squarely to production testing multiple zones across our new wells to understand the gas flow characteristics of our reservoir both vertically and laterally," he said.

Valeura Energy drilled the Devepınar-1 well to a depth of 4,796 meters, approximately 500 meters deeper than originally planned due to significant gas shows and faster drilling penetration rates. The results showed clear indications of over-pressured gas throughout the 1,066-meter gross column in the Teslimkoy and Kesan formations.

According to the company, Inanlı-1 pressure measurements confirm the well is significantly over-pressured, and reservoir stimulation and testing is expected to commence in late May.

"With 11 vertical wells now demonstrating high-pressure gas around the basin, the focus on data acquisition and operations is shifting to continued stimulation and production testing of drilled wells," the company noted.