Gas flow from the Tamar field was briefly halted today, due to an operational breakdown, before resuming normally. Although the Tamar partners insisted that there was no breakdown, Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) said that there was.
"There was operational breakdown at the Tamar production platform, which caused a halt in the gas flow," said IEC in a press release. "IEC activated emergency procedures for dealing with the breakdown. The company increase the use of gas received from the LNG ship. IEC was notified by Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) that the breakdown was over, and that normal flow resumed within half an hour. There were no disruptions in the operating system throughout the incident."
Share prices of Tamar's Israeli partners Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) units Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L), Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) and Alon Natural Gas Exploration Ltd. (TASE: ALGS) fell on reports of the breakdown, but quickly recovered.
Gas flow from the Tamar field began three weeks ago. Early this month, Noble Energy said that the flow was 300 million cubic feet per day, and it raised its estimate for the reservoir to 10 trillion cubic feet (TCF) from 9 TCF. It added that gas flow from the field would rise to one billion cubic feet per day by the end of the year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 24, 2013
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