Canada's Valeura continues search for Turkish gas partner after Equinor exit

London — Canadian explorer Valeura Energy said Tuesday it was continuing its search for a new partner to help develop a potential 10.1 Tcf (285 Bcm) unconventional gas play in northwestern Turkey after Norway's Equinor completed its exit from the project in early Q2.

Valeura has been working in partnership with Equinor to develop the unconventional gas accumulation at the Banarli block in the Thrace Basin following a successful exploration well -- Yamalik-1 -- in 2017.

An appraisal well, Inanli-1, was drilled at the site in 2019, and despite Valeura saying that subsequent flow tests from the well and a second well, Devepinar-1, had been encouraging, Equinor opted to leave.

Valeura said Tuesday it would engage an adviser "with a mandate to secure a suitable candidate" that would help fund further appraisal of the play.

"The target will be a partner who brings both financial and technical capability to the joint venture, for a carried work program that is expected to include drilling new vertical and horizontal wells, reservoir stimulation, and production testing," Valeura said in its first-quarter earnings report.

It added that in the near term, it was pursuing a program of low-cost data collection for the deep play.

It also plans to restart production from the Devepinar-1 well for a longer-term test.

"Valeura is currently in the process of securing suitable equipment and the timing for field operations is likely to be influenced by restrictions on movement of people and equipment as a result of the global COVID-19 response," it said.

Of the 11 deep wells that have penetrated the deep gas play to date, only the most recent three of these have been subjected to stimulation and production testing, all pf which resulted in gas flowing to surface.

Turkey is almost entirely dependent on imports from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan -- as well as imports of LNG -- to meet gas demand of around 50 Bcm/year.

Valeura -- created in 2010 when it changed its name from PanWestern Energy -- has made Turkey its primary geographic focus and has 20 exploration and production licenses.