Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, has shared the technical and strategic details of the upcoming offshore drilling operation to be conducted by the Cagri Bey drillship in Somali waters.
Minister Bayraktar said the undertaking in Somalia has the potential to be a game-changer in the Horn of Africa region and that the teams involved were highly optimistic of the outcome.
Bayraktar emphasized that the decision to drill was the result of exhaustive preparation.
The specific location for drilling was selected following extensive technical evaluations on where the technical team believes there are strong indications of oil, he added.
Deep water conditions
The operation will take place in deep water conditions at a depth of nearly 3.5 kilometers and a water thickness of approximately 3.5 kilometers.
The team will drill an additional 3.5 kilometers below the seabed for a cumulative penetration of about 7 kilometers from the surface to reach potential oil reserves.
“We aim to locate and extract oil if it is present at those depths,” the Minister noted, underlining the technical complexity of working in such a depth of water.
Minister Bayraktar revealed how preparations for the mission had spanned over a year, involving both field research and advanced analysis. Notably, the Ministry utilized Artificial Intelligence to process data and finalise the drilling coordinates.
The deployment of the Cagri Bey marks a significant step in Türkiye’s expanding energy diplomacy and its commitment to deep sea exploration in partnership with the Somali government.
