Globe Exploration LP (TASE: GLEX.L) will delay the start of drilling at its Ofek 1 well by four months until August 1, because the foreign drilling company cannot use the equipment available in Israel, and it will have to import other equipment. The contractor was due to begin drilling this month, under the original contract. The contractor will pay for importing the equipment.
Three months ago, Globe Exploration signed a contract with Turkey's Guney Yildizi Petrol AS (GYP), a subcontractor for Aladdin Middle East Ltd., to start drilling the Ofek 1 well in April, with an option to delay the start until July.
Globe Exploration's main asset is the 393-square kilometer onshore Ofek license in the Ramle area. The company is drilling to two target strata. The Ofek 1 is drilling to oil-bearing strata at a depth of 2,120-2,500 meters. In 1994, on the basis of the earlier David 1 well, a petrophysicist estimated the presence of 23.2 million barrels of oil in the strata, 30% of which could be recoverable. The second target strata, at a depth of 5,420-5,920 meters, may have 1.5-1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Globe Exploration's share price fell 6% on the TASE today to NIS 0.047, giving a market of NIS 142 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 17, 2011
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