Shemen Oil and Gas Resources Ltd. (TASE: SOG) announced on Saturday night that substantial signs of natural gas had been found at the Yam 3 well, offshore from Ashdod. The company said that the well had reached a depth of 4,740 meters (including the depth of the water) and that wireline logging indicated substantial signs of natural gas.
Shemen Oil owns 78% of the Yam 3 well.
Shemen Oil said that the well operator, Caspian Drilling Company Ltd. notified it that the results apparently indicate a natural gas discovery in the strata. "These preliminary results were given to the licensees by the operator, and they satisfied the licensees that there are signs of substantial natural gas in the well," said the company.
Shemen Oil said that it was premature to assess the quantity of natural gas in the well, or whether it was worthwhile developing the gas field. Production tests have not yet been carried out. The starting depth of the gas-bearing strata is 3,440 meters below sea level, and the net thickness of the gas-bearing target strata is 11 meters.
Shemen Oil said that the gas-bearing strata were the well's secondary target, and that the well had not yet reached its final depth. The well operator will continue drilling to the primary well's oil-bearing strata, located at a depth of 5,280-5,800 meters.
Shemen Oil CEO Yossi Levy said, "We are continuing to drill to the oil-bearing strata located 500 meters from the start of the primary target strata, where signs of oil were found by the Yam 2 well, 22 years ago."
Shemen Oil, run by Levy and chairman Gabi Ashkenazi, a former IDF chief of staff, has been drilling the Yam 3 well, located 16 kilometers west of Ashdod, since December 2012. According to Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. (NSAI), there is there is a potential discovery of 120 million barrels of oil at the well, and a 35% chance of discovering 1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the shallower strata.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 4, 2013
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