After weeks of anticipation, the Sedco Express drilling rig arrived at the Leviathan structure offshore Israel, and will begin drilling this afternoon.
The Leviathan structure is the first drilling target for the rig, which will apparently be replaced in January by the Pride North America rig, which has deeper drilling ability. After the switch, the Sedco Express will move to drill at the Tamar lease.
The rights to the exploration licenses covering Leviathan are owned by Noble Energy (39.66%), Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) (22.67%), Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) (22.67%), and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) (15%).
The goal of the drilling is to confirm data from the 3D seismic survey. Results published in June showed that there is a 50% chance that Leviathan contains 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The survey also showed that under the natural gas are two potential targets for oil drilling. The Sedco Express apparently cannot reach the deeper of those two targets, so the second rig was leased. Also, the Pride North America costs $275,000 per 24 hours, about half the cost of the Sedco Express. That is because it was leased at an opportune time, with a moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the BP oil spill disaster.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 12, 2010
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