Greek energy company Energean Oil & Gas plc (LSE: ENOG; TASE: ENOG) announced this morning the discovery of between 28 and 42 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas in Israel's North Karish offshore gas field. This is in addition to the 45 BCM already discovered. This is far smaller than the 281 BCM in the Tamar field and the 605 BCM in the Leviathan field but nevertheless sizeable enough to allow Energean to become a competitive player in Israel's energy market. Energean's share price rose 7% on the news.
The exploratory drilling began on March 15 and reached a depth of 4,880 meters, and was completed a week ahead of schedule. Further evaluation will now be undertaken to further refine resource potential and determine the liquids content of the discovery. Drilling of the initial phase of the Karish North well is now complete. As planned, Energean will now deepen the well to evaluate hydrocarbon potential at the D4 horizon.
Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said, "We are delighted to be announcing this significant new gas discovery at Karish North, which further demonstrates the attractiveness of our acreage offshore Israel. We are building the Energean Power FPSO with spare capacity, which will enable us to quickly, safely and economically develop both Karish North and future discoveries. We have already signed a contingent contract to sell 5.5 bcm (0.2 Tcf) of this new resource, and our strategy is now to secure the offtake for remaining volumes. We continue to see strong demand for our gas, which we believe will be supported by today’s announcement."
Once operations are completed on Karish North, the Stena DrillMAX will return to drilling the three Karish main development wells. Following this four well program, Energean has six drilling options remaining on its contract with Stena Drilling.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 15, 2019
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