The four partners in the Leviathan prospect estimate that there is a 17 percent
probability of finding reserves equal to 3 billion barrels of oil, and an 8
percent probability of finding reserves equal to 4.2 billion barrels, in a
stratum beneath the natural gas field under the Mediterranean Sea near
Haifa.
“The new information revives investors’ dreams of finding oil,”
said IBI analyst Guil Bashan. “It is still too early to know whether the
findings are commercial.”
The probability estimates were provided at a
meeting of the partners on Thursday.
They approved a drilling plan and
budget for the Leviathan site located 135 kilometers west of Haifa.
In
the first instance, the partners okayed a $150 million budget for
exploration at
the site, which is estimated to hold 16 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas with
a 50% probability of geological success.
In the report published on
Sunday, the partners announced that the secondary objective of the
exploration
plan is to drill to lower layers of the Leviathan site, beneath the gas
reserve
potential, to collect geological data and further examine the economic
potential
of gas and oil finds.
Current estimates give a 17% chance of discovering
reserves equal to 3 billion barrels of oil at a depth of 5,800 meters.
In
addition there is a probability of geological success of 8% of finding a
reserve
which is estimated to equal to 1.2 billion barrels of oil at a depth of
7,200
meters.
At the same though, the companies involved in the Leviathan
field, including Delek Drilling LP and Avner Oil Exploration LP,
cautioned that
it was too early to make a decision over drilling wells to access the
oil, as
further geological testing was necessary.
Drilling at the Leviathan site
is scheduled to begin in October and continue for five months.
The
partners in the Leviathan site are Noble Energy, which owns 39.66% of
the Amit
and Rachel licenses forming the Leviathan gas find, Avner Oil and Gas LP
and
Delek Drilling LP, who each own 22.67%, and Ratio Oil Exploration LP,
which
holds a 15% stake.
Back in June, Yitzhak Tshuva, controlling shareholder
of the Delek Group, which is a partner in the Leviathan prospect through
its
subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP, said the site
had the
potential to make Israel energy independent, and position the country as
a gas
exporter in coming years with the ability to supply the European market
and the
Far East.
Bloomberg contributed to this report.
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