/21 QUESTIONS
Exclusive interview with
Sarp Ayken
questions
Drilling Manager at Ortadoğu Sondaj
Sarp Ayken was born in 1977 in Izmir, Turkey. He entered the Geological Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University in 1995. After graduation, he started working as a Site Engineer at Ortadoğu Sondaj (Ortadoğu) in March 2001. He has been with the company ever since. In these 20 years, Sarp has been involved in many domestic and international projects as an engineer and later as a manager. He has extensive experience working on projects in his home country of Turkey, in Italy, Iran and Pakistan. Sarp is a member of the Chamber of Geological Engineers of Turkey and the Turkish Association of Economic Geologists. He also is a frequent speaker on Diamond Drilling subjects such as: Slim Hole Drilling Technology, Fluid Mechanics and Drill Mud, and Maximizing Core Recovery at international events. He holds multiple prestigious certifications. Nowadays, with Sarp in the leadership of Ortadoğu Sondaj, the company has become the largest contractor in Turkey and one of the largest in the region with their own drilling rig and equipment manufacturing facility. 6
Grigor Topev: How did you start out in drilling? Sarp Ayken: My professor in the university was a hydrogeologist and was working as an advisor for a trona mineral exploration project for US Borax around the city of Ankara, Turkey and Ortadoğu Sondaj was the drilling contractor. He recommended me to Ortadoğu for a Site Engineer. This project was a stepping stone as it marked the beginning of my drilling career. GT: How has the industry changed? SA: I think the biggest change happened in the technology of the drilling rigs and equipment. For example, the capacity of drill rigs increased allowing to drill deeper with the same bit size. The performance of drill bits and other downhole tools has improved a lot allowing faster penetration rates. I remember that when I was starting even the impregnated bit design was very new in Turkey and no driller was willing to use it. Also, back then, there were almost no hydraulic drill rigs available in Turkey. All of our rigs were the ‘mechanical’ type and it was an adventure and a large achievement in the country when we drilled the first continuous coring borehole deeper than 1000 m (≈ 3281 ft) – the final depth when it was completed, just as I began my career, reached 1003 m (≈ 3291 ft). Another big change happened in drilling fluids additives. With the improvement and introduction of new products, the characteristics Coring Magazine #17
