Analysis stage begins at latest Golan drilling site

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN
Updated: MAY 25, 2016 23:38
Golan oil rig (photo credit: SHARON UDASIN)
Golan oil rig
(photo credit: SHARON UDASIN)
Afek oil and gas hopes to find out what lies beneath the Golan Heights, as they announced the beginning of the analysis phase for the Ness-2 drilling site, also known as “Deborah’s Well.”
This analysis phase began after flow tests, which aim to determine how much oil may be in a reservoir, concluded at the site on Thursday. Now, the task is to identify the contents of the ground wells and what products might come from it, which Afek said will be carried out by their own scientific crew as well as “external international experts.”
The company noted in a statement earlier in the month that the flow tests, focused on certain segments, produced gaseous hydrocarbons as well as small amounts of heavy oil.
In a statement from the company on Tuesday, Afek, which is owned by the New Jersey-based firm Genie Energy Ltd., noted that additional parts of the analysis phase may eventually include tests on other wells within their licensed area, as well as seismic work to get a general idea of the ground’s layers. The expert team, according to the statement, is also trying to locate more “sweet spots” of oil or gas reservoirs.
Regarding findings from the Ness-3 site, where testing began in February, the company said that the site did not produce an amount of hydrocarbons that would be sufficient for commercial production, though noted that they learned important information for future testing. Still, initial results from analyses so far “suggest that there may be a large reservoir of natural gas,” as well as “significant amounts” of light, concentrated oil.
On May 10, the company announced that it had received a license extension which will allow work to continue until April 9, 2017.
On February 1 of this year, Afek received a renewed permit from the Northern District Committee to continue to explore for conventional oil at up to 10 sites in a 39,500-hectare zone south of Katzrin, despite outcry from environmental groups.
Since February 2015, Afek has completed drilling at five sites.