A large natural gas reservoir to be found offshore from Israel, most likely amounts to to 12 trillion cubic feet, 50% larger than Tamar, says US Geological Survey (USGS) geologist Christopher Schenk who headed the team that mapped the Levant Basin Province for potential oil and gas discoveries.
At a lecture at the Institute for Earth Sciences at Hebrew University in Jerusalem yesterday, Schenk analyzed the findings of the USGS study, which was published in March. The estimates of the largest field size is with an average probability. He added that there is a chance of an even larger field, but at lower probability.
Schenk said that the lowest probability was finding a "mega gas field" of 30 trillion cubic feet, chances of which he put at 1 in a 1,000. He said that Israeli experts with whom had spoken estimate the gas reserves at the Leviathan structure at 14-25 trillion cubic feet.
Noble Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NBL), Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L), which own the Leviathan license, estimate a 50% probability of finding 16 trillion cubic feet of gas in it. Schenk said, "A 16 trillion cubic foot gas field is considered an extraordinary find on a global scale."
Schenk heads a USGS team assessing global oil and gas reserves, which is mapping 130 geographical regions worldwide.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 4, 2010
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