Energean reports >1 Tcfg discovery at Karish North
LONDON -- Energean Oil and Gas plc, the oil and gas producer focused on the Mediterranean, is pleased to announce that the Karish North exploration well has made a significant gas discovery.
Preliminary analysis indicates:
- Initial gas in place estimates of between 1 Tcf (28 Bcm) and 1.5 Tcf (42 Bcm)
- High quality reservoir in the B and C sands.
The well reached an intermediate TD of 16,010.5 ft (4,880 m) approximately 7 days ahead of schedule. A gross hydrocarbon column of up to 816.92 ft (249 m) was encountered and a 88.58 ft (27 m) core was recovered to surface. Further evaluation will now be undertaken to further refine resource potential and determine the liquids content of the discovery.
Drilling of the initial phase of the Karish North well is now complete. As planned, Energean will now deepen the well to evaluate hydrocarbon potential at the D4 horizon.
Once operations are completed on Karish North, the Stena DrillMAX will return to drilling the three Karish Main development wells. Following this four well program, Energean has six drilling options remaining on its contract with Stena Drilling.
Read more: Energean has completed extended reach well in Greece
The Karish North discovery will be commercialized via a tie-back to the Energean Power FPSO, which is located 3.355 mi (5.4 km) from the Karish North well. The FPSO is being built with total processing and export capacity of 8 Bcmy (775 MMcfd), which will enable Karish North, and future discoveries, to be monetized.
In December 2018, Energean signed a contract with I.P.M Beer Tuvia to supply an estimated 5.5 Bcm (0.2 Tcf) of gas over the life of the contract. The contract is contingent, inter alia, on the results of Energean’s 2019 drilling program and today’s announcement significantly increases the likelihood of its conversion into a firm contract.
Inclusive of the I.P.M. contract, Energean has contracted 4.6 Bcmy (445 MMcfd) of gas sales, leaving a further 3.4 Bcmy (330 MMcfd) of spare capacity in its FPSO for additional sales of discovered gas at Karish and the tie back of future discoveries.
Karish North spudded on March 15, 2019 utilizing the Stena DrillMAX, a sixth generation drillship capable of drilling in water depth of up to 10,000 ft.
Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean said, “We are delighted to be announcing this significant new gas discovery at Karish North, which further demonstrates the attractiveness of our acreage offshore Israel. We are building the Energean Power FPSO with spare capacity, which will enable us to quickly, safely and economically develop both Karish North and future discoveries. We have already signed a contingent contract to sell 5.5 Bcm (0.2 Tcf) of this new resource, and our strategy is now to secure the offtake for remaining volumes. We continue to see strong demand for our gas, which we believe will be supported by today’s announcement.”
In response to Energean’s Significant New Gas Discovery at Karish North, Israeli Minister of Energy, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, congratulated Energean for the discovery, stating that “the first exploration drilling following years of stagnation ended up with a discovery for Energean! I congratulate Energean for the significant amount of natural gas discovered in Karish North. This is a first sign, and I am sure that further discoveries will follow - and turn the State of Israel into a regional gas hub”.
