Fossil Energy – Türkiye
State oil company TPAO and Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar have confirmed that TPAO has purchased two 7th generation 12,000-ft drill ships.
Ownership of the 12,000-ft Dorado and Draco has been transferred from Eldorado Drilling to TPAO.
New names for the rigs have not been determined. Bayraktar stated that the first of the drill ships will be in Türkiye in approximately two months and that following accreditation and certification processes, one will be ready for work in January and one in February 2026.
Dorado and Draco (aka West Draco) are 7th generation Samsung 12000 design drill ships, originally ordered by Seadrill in 2013. Eldorado Drilling acquired the newbuilds from Samsung Heavy Industries in 2023 for around $250 million each and took delivery of Dorado in April 2024 and Draco in December 2024. Both units have been idle in Malaysia following delivery.
TPAO already owns four drill ships. Currently, TPAO rigs Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni, and Abdülhamid Han are actively operating in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea offshore Türkiye.
The sale of the two drillships leaves Eldorado Drilling with one rig; sister vessel Atlantic Zonda.
Atlantic Zonda is the only Eldorado unit to have secured work and is currently drilling for Petrobras offshore Brazil under the management of Ventura Offshore.
