More Gas Prospects in Tamar Southwest

Another natural gas reservoir has been identified off the Israeli Mediterranean coast, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The reservoir, called Tamar Southwest, is thought to hold some 0.7 trillion cubic feet, or about (19) billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to an announcement by Delek Drilling and its Tamar exploration partners.

The Netherland Sewell and Associates Inc. (NSAI) international oil and gas consulting firm has assessed the chances of success at Tamar Southwest at higher than 70 percent. Commercial production is likely, but not certain at this stage.

Due to its location, 80%  of the reservoir will be owned by the Tamar partners, while a 20% share will be held by the Leviathan partners, who are already drilling in much larger fields in the area.

The production tests will begin soon and will last for about a month, during which the partners will be using an ENSCO 5006 rig to withdraw up to about 60 million cubic feet per day, the report said. The total estimated budget for the production tests is expected to be about $64 million, the report added.

Meanwhile, both Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration gave encouraging reports on first and second quarter earnings from the nearby Tamar reservoir.

“The production from the Tamar reservoir is a very significant growth engine for the Israeli economy,” said Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu. “The production is unequivocally improving the financial results of the partners in the Tamar project, and in addition, will lead to significant reductions in energy costs for all of Israeli industry, will contribute to the creation of new jobs and will significantly improve the environment.”

In the first half of 2013, Delek Drilling’s net earnings amounted to $18.2 million, as opposed to $8.7 million during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Avner Oil Exploration’s net earnings for the first have of 2013 were $11.8 million, compared with $5.5 million during the same period last year, according to the companies. These figures reflect an increase of 109% and 114% respectively.

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the August 22nd, 2013 edition of Hamodia.