Türkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO) have moved the Fatih drillship to the Elfani-1 well location in the Western Black Sea. TPAO are also currently drilling the Kandira-2 exploration well with the Abdülhamid Han drillship.

The Black Sea is about a third of the size of the Gulf of Mexico. 36 exploration wells have been drilled in the deepwater Black Sea, compared to 3800 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Only 4 wells have been drilled in the deepwater Eastern Black Sea, targeting deeper oil plays.

Elfani-1 was drilled on new TPAO 3D seismic, targeting structures within the Plio-Miocene gas play.  It is located is 48km northwest of Kastamonu-1 and 102 km east of the Amasra (Sakarya North) discovery.

Kastamonu-1 was drilled in 2011 on 2D seismic by ExxonMobil and Türkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO) and encountered a series of gas bearing Plio-Miocene sands with low gas saturations. Amasra, Elfani and Kastamonu-1 all have strong soft amplitude seismic responses consistent with gas bearing sands.

Amasra will be developed as part of the Sakarya Phase 2 development, which involves 10 additional producers, a new subsea production system infrastructure, a new floating production unit (FPU) the Osman Gazi, and the construction of a new 24-inch pipeline to the Filyos gas terminal onshore. The combined plateau of Phase 1 and 2 is 20 Mm³/day.

The commitment of Türkiye and TPAO to aggressively explore and develop the Plio-Miocene gas play in the Black Sea, is helping Türkiye to lower emissions, reduce gas imports and secure energy independence.

The deepwater shallow depth of burial gas, is a new and emerging global play that was previously avoided and overlooked. National oil and gas companies (NOCs) in the Middle East and Asia are leading the way in developing this previously overlooked resource.

If you are in the London area and interested in finding out more about Elfani-1, the Black Sea and deepwater shallow gas, then join Ciaran Nolan at the next GESGB (Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain) London Evening Lecture on Tuesday April 28th 2026 from 18:00-19:00 UK time at The Linnean Society of London. Networking Drinks at 19:00-20:00 in the The Clarence Pub. 

Ciaran Nolan
Director, Nolan Geoscience Limited

Book your place here.   l   KeyFacts Energy: TPAO Turkey country profile