Turkey is expecting to get results from the second oil and gas exploration mission in the East Mediterranean in three months, as its drilling vessel Yavuz reached the Guzelyurt-1 well location, Energy and Natural Resources Deputy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday.
Speaking at an event titled Commercialization of Eastern Mediterranean Gas, organized on the sidelines of the 10th Turkey Energy Summit in southern resort city of Antalya, Bayraktar said that Turkey conducts a critical commercial and technical operation in the East Mediterranean.
Emphasizing that Turkey has to reduce its dependence on export of oil and natural gas, the deputy minister lamented that foreign companies were under pressure, not to partner with Turkey in its drilling operations in the East Mediterranean.
"Unfortunately, some companies knuckle under the pressure and leave us alone. But Turkey continues these activities resolutely with all the shareholders," asserted Bayraktar.
He announced that Yavuz has started dripping operations on Monday at the Guzelyurt-1 well, from which the country expects to get results in three months.
The minister pointed that Turkey has the capability and capacity to conduct drilling operations in the East Mediterranean on its own.
But, he underlined that Turkey was continuing its endeavor to talk to other countries and companies, who are willing to partner and respect Turkey's position in the region.
"We continue to hold talks with those companies, who want to operate in the license areas assigned to Turkey and who want to enter Mediterranean [market]," he said.
Prior to its second mission, the sixth generation ultra-deep-water drillship, Yavuz, operated at Karpaz-1 well in the Bay of Gazimagusa, also known as Famagusta, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Turkey, as a guarantor nation to the TRNC and in support of its rights on the East Mediterranean resources, is currently conducting hydrocarbon exploration with its drilling vessels, Fatih and Yavuz along with the country's two other seismic vessels.
