site.btaTotalEnergies Seek Partner for Next Drill in Black Sea Block

“There is currently no clear plan as to when the next well will be drilled in the Han Asparuh Block in the Black Sea,” TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Friday in response to a BTA inquiry on the current status of exploration in the eastern part of the block, following several unsuccessful drillings in the area close to the Bulgarian coast. TotalEnergies is one of the leading international energy companies.

„We are currently waiting to find a partner to share the cost of this project,“ added Pouyanne, who took part in a panel on energy transition on the second day of the Astana International Forum taking place in the Kazakh capital.

Attempts to find blue fuel deposits in this part of the Bulgarian territorial waters began after the Bulgarian government granted permission for exploration in 2012. It was granted to a consortium of companies, with TotalEnergies EP Bulgaria B.V. currently leading the way. The other partner is currently OMW Offshore Bulgaria.

In an interview with BTA at the beginning of the year, TotalEnergies EP Bulgaria General Manager Yves Le Stunff pointed out that the greatest hopes of finding hydrocarbons, more specifically natural gas, lie in the eastern part of the Han Asparuh Block in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. He added that the feasibility of carrying out a drill in early 2024 is being examined, but it will be a risky and costly undertaking. Le Stunff said that new investors are being sought in and outside Bulgaria. "We are looking mainly to international companies which have experience in deepwater exploration, but we are also open to possible participation of the Bulgarian government," he explained. Meetings were then held with representatives of a number of political parties in an attempt to find the necessary support.

The seismic surveys carried out during the pandemic gave hope of finding gas with commercial potential. In his interview with BTA, Le Stunff pointed out that the oil system discovered could actually be similar to the one discovered in Romania in 2012 in the Domino well (which will soon result in the development of the Neptun Deep field)".

According to him, he geological formation may also be similar to a petroleum system discovered in Turkiye's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea in 2020, which led to the development of the Sakarya gas field by Turkish Petroleum that will begin yielding gas in 2023.