On 3 July 2018, the General Directorate of Petroleum Affairs (GDPA) awarded Turkish Petroleum Corp (TPAO) a new and exclusive exploration licence for onshore area F19-b2. The licence (145.1 sq km) is located in the NW Turkish province of Tekirdag (District I) and will be valid for an initial five-year term. It adjoins TPAO's existing F19-b3 exploration licence and lies within the Thrace Basin.<P />The Thrace Basin has received a lot of attention recently, following Valeura and Equinor's successful Yamalik 1 NFW. Over four production tests within the Eocene Kesan formation, the well tested an aggregate 24-hour rate of around 2.9 MMcfg/d, thereby validating the JV's basin-centred gas play concept. Area F19-b3 lies along the eastern edge of this play fairway.<P />Traoil Dogal Enerji Kaynaklari Arastirma ve Uretim San Tic AS submitted the original application for the same area on 11 December 2017, with TPAO submitting a rival application a week later.
TPAO (100%) was awarded exploration licences, E18-C1,C2,C3, E18-D1,D2 and F19-A1,A2,A3