The discovery of large quantities of condensate at Karish is good news that presages hopes of much bigger news to come. In the next few weeks, Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) will try to find the source of the condensate discovered in the well. The answer could lead it to previously unknown nearby and deeper oil fields.
Condensate is a substance midway between natural gas and oil. Its properties could be similar to kerosene (which was discovered at Leviathan) and white naphtha (which was discovered at Tamar). The price of condensate is usually linked to the price of Brent crude.
Noble Energy and Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) already have already agreed to sell oil from Tamar to Paz Oil Company Ltd.'s (TASE:PZOL) Paz Ashdod Refinery at almost $100 a barrel, and they may sell condensate from the field directly to the petrochemicals industry at a much higher price.
The discovery of condensate at Karish immediately raises the question whether there is a chance of a large oil discovery. Noble Energy and Delek plan resume drilling of the Leviathan 1 well near the end of the year. Drilling will take at least six months to reach two oil-bearing target strata at depths of at 5,800 to 7,200 meters, below the gas bearing strata, where there is a 25% probability finding 600 million barrels of oil.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 14, 2013
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