Increasing demand for reliable energy resources has led to an increased exploration activity for untapped hydrocarbon resources in deep water. The recently discovered, fast-tracked Sakarya offshore natural gasfield development is a prime example. This paper describes dynamic reservoir characterization considerations, challenges, and engineering solutions to derisk field-development decisions, confirmed by a well-testing campaign in a complex setting with no tolerance for failure.
Sakarya Field
The Sakarya field is approximately 170 km north of the Turkish coast in the Black Sea at 2117 m (Fig. 1 above). The natural gas field was discovered in August 2020 and is estimated to have potential natural gas reserves of 11 Tcf of lean gas, making it the largest gas reserve discovered in the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone as well as the Black Sea.
In October 2020, a second discovery was made in the lower sections of Tuna 1, which increased the potential recoverable reserve estimate to 14.3 Tcf of lean gas.
