TPAO’s Çağrı Bey arrives offshore Somalia for Curad-1 well

Turkish Petroleum’s Çağrı Bey ultra-deepwater drillship arrived in Somalia to conduct the country’s first offshore drilling operation and TPAO’s first deep-sea drilling campaign outside Turkish waters.

The drillship will proceed to the Curad-1 well, located approximately 370 km offshore Mogadishu. The well, whose name means “firstborn” in Somali, targets a water depth of approximately 3,500 m, with drilling planned to extend approximately 4,000 m below the seabed to a total depth of 7,500 m. If achieved, Curad-1 would rank as the world’s second-deepest offshore well. Drilling is expected to take 288 days.

The Curad-1 well location was selected following a seven-month seismic survey by TPAO’s research vessel Oruç Reis, which collected 3D data across approximately 4,500 sq km in three offshore Somali blocks.