Energean confirms ‘excellent’ gas discovery in Israeli waters
The latest discovery follows exploration drilling 700 meters north of the original Karish North penetration between mid-March and April at the cost of $25 million.
By EYTAN HALONAn illustration of Energean's FPSO(photo credit: ENERGEAN)
British-Greek oil and gas producer Energean hailed an “excellent result” on Monday as it confirmed the addition of 25 billion cubic meters (bcm) of recoverable natural gas from its Karish North field off Israel’s Mediterranean coast.Listed on both the London and Tel Aviv stock exchanges, the company reported that the successful appraisal also confirmed the existence of 34 million barrels of light oil or condensate. Shares in the company made immediate gains on both exchanges following the announcement.The new volumes, in line with the company’s best estimates, will be added to the 68 bcm of natural gas and 33 million barrels of light oil or condensate that Energean has already discovered in the Karish and Tanin fields, approximately 90 kilometers from Israel’s shore.The latest discovery follows exploration drilling 700 meters north of the original Karish North penetration between mid-March and April at the cost of $25 million.“This is an excellent result from the Karish North appraisal sidetrack, confirming in place volumes in the top half of pre-drill estimates and increasing our recoverable volumes in Israel by 0.9 Tcf (25 BCM) of gas plus 34 million barrels of light oil or condensate,” said Energean CEO Mathios Rigas.“Today’s news delivers upon another commitment that we had made to our shareholders and the successful results allow us to continue our gas marketing efforts in the region with a goal to fully utilize the capacity of our 8 BCMA FPSO. Our focus now remains on closing the Edison E&P acquisition, in parallel with progressing the Karish development.”The Karish North field will be developed via a connection to Energean’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, located 5.4 km. away and built with capacity to produce 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Gas flow is expected to commence in 2021.According to Energean, gas produced from both the Karish and Tanin reservoirs is intended to supply the growing domestic Israeli market and key regional export markets. The company has already secured contracts with Israeli customers for the sale of 4.7 bcm of natural gas.Energean, which was awarded four new licenses for oil and gas exploration in Israeli economic waters, says it believes the appraisal results will now enhance the likelihood of closing an 0.4 BCMA contact with the IPM Beer Tuvia power plant, near the southern city of Kiryat Malachi.Also in July, the company the conditional acquisition of Italian energy unit Edison E&P in a $750 million deal, including its portfolio of production and development assets in Egypt. The company will participate in the next meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum in Egypt later this week, established in January to create a regional gas market.
