Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) energy exploration units Delek Drilling Limited Partnership (TASE: DEDR.L) and Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) announced this morning that drilling at the Karish 1 field will begin in the coming few days. The companies said that the drilling at Karish 1, which is part of the Alon C license, would last three months and cost $90 million.
The drilling will be carried out on the basis of a prospective resources report published in December 2012, which said there was a 77% probability of finding gas. The report added that any findings were likely to be of commercial quantities.
Yesterday, Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), Delek's partner in the Karish prospect and the drilling operator said, "Following operations at Leviathan 4 and pending partner approval, the Ensco 5006 rig will be relocated to the Karish prospect in the Alon C license. The Karish prospect has a pre-drill gross mean resource estimate of 3 TCF (trillion cubic feet), and a range of 2.3 to 3.6 TCF and is expected to reach total depth in the second quarter."
The Karish 1 drilling will take place 75 kilometers north west of Haifa with the target strata in the Tamar sands. The depth of water at the drilling site is 1,740 meters, and the target depth of the drilling is 4,900 meters.
Noble Energy owns 47.1% of the Alon C license, and Avner and Delek Drilling each own 26.47%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 8, 2013
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