Gas exploration company Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) has received a one-month extension from Petroleum Supervisor Dr. Yaakov Mimran to present a drilling plan for the Shimshon offshore license by January 31, 2011. The 400-square kilometer Shimshon license is offshore from Ashkelon
Six months ago, Isramco announced the results of the 3D seismic survey of the Shimshon license, which disappointed investors and sent the share tumbling 10%. The survey found only 15% chance of commercial success. The Oligocene-Miocene sand strata in the southern part of the prospect "are likely to contain gas similar to other prospects in the Nile Delta where gas has been found." The US consultant who reanalyzed the data estimates gas reserves at Shimshon at 1.5 trillion cubic feet (43 billion cubic meters).
Although Shimshon's estimated reserves are only a fraction of the size of the 8.6 trillion cubic feet of gas estimated at Tamar, in which Isramco is a partner, they are 20% larger than Yam Tethys' reserves located 50 kilometers to the east.
Isramco CEO Yossi Levy told "Globes", "We're talking about strata at a depth of 4,500 meters, of a kind never before drilled in Israel. Although a 15% chance of success is less than the figures published for Tamar and Leviathan, but the estimates for Yam Tethys discovery were, I believe, no higher."
Isramco's share price fell 1.1% on the TASE today to NIS 0.438, giving a market cap of NIS 5.03 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 27, 2010
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