Israel Land Development Company Energy Ltd. (TASE: IE) notified the TASE after trading yesterday that it has asked the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources for a three-month postponement in the start of drilling at the Myra and Sarah licenses. The request cites delays in obtaining the Noble Homer Ferrington rig, which is currently drilling the Leviathan 1 well, and has been contracted to drill the Myra and Sarah wells.
ILDC Energy has asked for the start of the Myra well to be delayed from March 31 to June 30, and the start of the Sarah well will be no later than October 30.
ILDC Energy and its affiliates own 41.6% of the two licenses, and its parent company, Israel Land Development Company (TASE: ILDC), controlled by Ofer Nimrodi, owns 5%.
ILDC Energy's partners in Myra and Sarah - Modiin Energy LP (TASE:MDIN.L) (which owns 29.2%), its shareholder IDB Development Corp. Ltd. (5.6%), IPC Oil and Gas Holdings Ltd. (IPC) (TASE: IPC) (13.6%), and GeoGlobal Resources Inc. (AMEX: GGR) (5%) have not made any announcements on the issue.
ILDC Energy said that the Leviathan partners - Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) - believe that the Noble Homer Ferrington rig will complete the drilling of the Leviathan 1 well after March 31.
The Myra and Sarah licenses are located 80 kilometers west of Hadera, south of the Dalit and Tamar gas discoveries. Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. (NSAI) estimates that the two licenses have a best estimate of 6.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with a 54% probability of success, and 150 million barrels of oil with an 18% probability of success.
The Myra well is targeting strata at a depth of 3,700 meters in 1,500-meter deep water, and the Sarah well is targeting strata at a depth of 3,000 meters in 1,300-meter deep water. The Myra well is scheduled to take 70 days to drill and the Sarah well, 50 days. The licensees have budgeted $157 million to drill the two wells, and production costs, if approved, will cost an additional $43 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 8, 2012
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