Gas began flowing from Israel's huge Leviathan offshore gas field this morning. The field is 132 kilometers west of Haifa in waters 1,500 meters deep where there is a best estimate ranging between 470 and 621 BCM.
Consequently the share price of Israel's Leviathan partners - Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) are rising sharply on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange today. The field operator is US company Noble Energy.
A flushing process began at 7.30am, which involved gas emissions, mainly nitrogen and towards midday some benzene. These emissions are of great concern to residents of the coastal plain from the Sharon Region and northwards and many left their homes today, while children were kept out of school. Many residents demonstrated outside government offices in Tel Aviv chanting "The people demand clean air."
The Ministry of Environmental Protection said that winds this morning were in a south-southeasterly direction keeping pollutant air parallel to the coast and that the benzene monitored in the air was low and within acceptable bounds. The Ministry added, "There are no special instructions to the public during the morning and the influence on the air quality from the rig in the coastal region will be minimal. There is no reason for residents to evacuate and according to an expert opinion there is no danger to the public expected from the flushing."
Noble Energy chairman and CEO David L. Stover said, "This is a historic day for Noble Energy. The safe and successful execution of the initial phase of Leviathan development has been world-class, continuing our exceptional track record of major project delivery. First gas is online less than three years from project sanction and capital expenditures were $150 million under budget. Combined with Tamar, our Israel assets provide a differential production profile and cash flow outlook for Noble Energy far into the future."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 31, 2019
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