Turkey will send a second drill ship to operate in the Black Sea, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Sunday, weeks after Ankara announced its largest ever natural gas discovery in the area.
"Our drill ship Kanuni, whose preparation work is continuing, will start drilling in the Black Sea," he said on Twitter.
Donmez added that Kanuni will support the Fatih drill ship, which found the 320 billion cubic metre natural gas field some 100 nautical miles north of the Turkish coast.
It was not immediately clear whether Kanuni would work in the same field as Fatih. Kanuni is currently located off the coast of the southern Antalya province, Refinitiv ship tracking data shows.
Turkey currently imports nearly all of its energy needs and any discovery would help drive down its current account deficit.
Donmez said last month that data suggested more natural gas will be found as drilling continues deeper under the sea bed. A senior energy ministry official said this week that Turkey hopes to announce the new discovery in October.
More than a quarter of Turkey's long-term gas contracts expire next year, including imports via pipeline from Russia's Gazprom and Azerbaijan's SOCAR and a liquefied natural gas (LNG)deal with Nigeria.
Ankara expects gas suppliers to offer more competitive pricing and flexibility if they want to renew long-term contracts totaling 16 billion cubic meters a year, the official said.
Turkey is also carrying out operations in the Mediterranean, which has led to a stand-off with Greece and Cyprus over ownership of potential hydrocarbon resources in the area.
Turkey's seismic research vessel Oruc Reis returned to waters near Antalya on Sunday, Refinitiv data showed, a move Greece said was a positive first step in easing tensions.
But Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar played down the significance of the move, saying the ship had returned to shore as part of scheduled plans.
Ankara sent Oruc Reis to map out possible oil and gas drilling prospects in waters claimed by Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Turkey's navy had issued an advisory earlier this month saying that the Oruc Reis would continue operations in the area until Sept. 12.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had said the ship would continue exploratory operations for longer but no extension to the advisory has been issued so far.
Refinitiv ship tracking data showed Oruc Reis, along with two accompanying vessels, had anchored at a location just off the coast of Antalya on Sunday.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the move.
"The return of Oruc Reis is a positive first step, I hope there will be continuity. We want to talk with Turkey but in a climate without provocations," he told reporters in Thessaloniki.
Ankara faces potential sanctions from the European Union, which fully supports member states Greece and Cyprus, due to the dispute but many states, including Germany, want to defuse the stand-off through dialogue.
"A sanctions list exists as an option (against Turkey). Our desire is not to see it implemented but it will be done if we see that the other side is not returning to the path of logic," Mitsotakis said.
