ANKARA (Al Jazeera) – Nearly two years after Turkey halted offshore gas explorations in contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean, a Turkish drillship has departed from the port of Mersin to search for gas in the region.
The Abdullhamid Han drillship set sail on Tuesday with the blessing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said that the ship would operate 55km (34.2 miles) off Turkey’s coast in an area within the country’s sovereign territory.
“The survey and drilling work we are conducting in the Mediterranean are within our sovereign territory. We do not need to receive permission or consent from anyone for this,” Erdogan said at a ceremony to launch the ship.
The eastern Mediterranean, with its substantial natural gas potential, could become a flashpoint for regional and wider disputes after the Ukraine conflict triggered a global energy crisis and sent importers scrambling for alternative hydrocarbon sources.
Energy minister Fatih Donmez had announced on July 26 that the 238-metre-long (781-foot) last-generation drillship would leave Turkey for an unspecified location.
A day prior to Donmez making the announcement, Cyprus’s energy minister, Natasa Pilides, said Europe’s drive to slash reliance on Russian natural gas had boosted the strategic importance of its offshore finds.
“Europe is a good potential customer for Cypriot gas,” Pilides told Bloomberg. “The EU has confirmed that natural gas will remain a bridge fuel up to 2049 as part of the green transition so companies now have the comfort of being able to secure long-term contracts.”
Gas explorations have been continuing in Cypriot offshore blocks since gas fields were discovered in the early 2000s. Preliminary results from the latest appraisal drilling by a consortium of France’s Total and Italy’s ENI this week confirmed large natural gas deposits in bloc 6 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Pilides said that, as a small country, Cyprus does not need much natural gas for domestic purposes, leaving more for export.
But Turkey – which in 2019 footed a $40bn gas import bill and does not recognize Cyprus as a sovereign state entitled to its own EEZ – has asserted its “sovereign right” to drill for energy reserves off the divided island.