Equinor to withdraw Thrace basin deep gas participation
Valeura Energy Inc, Calgary, expects to continue the deep gas appraisal programme of the Thrace basin onshore north-west Turkey following notification from joint partner Equinor of its intent to withdraw.
Discussions have commenced around the commercial mechanism by which Equinor is to exit the play, Valeura said on the 2nd February.
In 2016, Equinor (then Statoil) farmed into an onshore acreage operated by Valeura. Equinor holds a 50% interest in formations deeper than 2,500 metres within the Banarli and West Thrace licences.
Valeura holds 50% in the deep formations in the Banarli licence, and 31.5% in the deep formations in the West Thrace. The remaining 18.5% in West Thrace is held by Pinnacle Turkey.
The first deep exploration well, Yamalik-1 in the Banarli license, was drilled to 4,200 metres in 2017. The well discovered a 1,300-metre natural gas and condensate column in over-pressured reservoirs below 2,900 metres in the Tertiary Teslimkoy and Kesan formations.
Appraisal wells Inanli-1 and Devepinar-1 followed.
Through the partnership, said Sean Guest, Valeura president and chief executive officer, the company has gathered “a significant volume of new data and key learnings about the attributes of the large gas resource base in the Thrace Basin, with much of the investment funded by Equinor’s carry under its agreements.”
Source: Oil & Gas Journal