By GLOBES / AMIRAM BARKAT
07/24/2011 23:32
The discovery that Tamar’s gas potential is larger than thought could also prove significant for the Myra, Sarah and other fields.
The discovery that an additional strata in the Tamar gas field contains natural gas has broad implications for the other gas fields in the region, sources in the natural gas industry believe.
A prospectus published by Delek Drilling LP on Thursday night said that a new gas reservoir has been discovered in a fissure in which Tamar 2 is being drilled, including a strata of sand with an overall thickness of 25 meters (D strata).
The reservoir was discovered at the Tamar 3 well at a depth of 5,160 meters beneath the three secondary wells discovered in Tamar 2 (A, B, and C strata). Estimates are that the new strata of gas discovered in Tamar’s deep sands contains 0.5-1.5 trillion cubic feet.
In its prospectus, Delek Drilling disclosed that Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. had revised the volume of gas reserves for development in Tamar upwards on June 30 from 8.7 trillion cubic feet to 9.1 trillion cubic feet.
The new quantities of gas that might be found in the D strata may not be sensational relatively speaking, but to put matters in proportion the size of Mary B field in Yam Tethys that has been supplying 75 percent of Israel’s natural gas consumption since 2004 is only 500 billion cubic feet.
But perhaps most interesting of all is that Delek Drilling’s latest report about the Tamar prospect also has implications for Leviathan, which covers an area three times as large as Tamar. The Leviathan 1 well contains 16 trillion cubic feet of gas. The discovery that Tamar’s gas potential is larger than thought could also prove significant for the Myra, Sarah and other fields.
Delek Drilling hinted at such a possibility, when it said that the operator Noble Energy is collecting data about the D strata and “is working to analyze the possible implications of the discovery of the reservoir for the volume of reserves at Tamar and for other finds in other oil assets of the partnership.”
Meanwhile, Myra and Sarah license-holder Modiin Energy LP notified the TASE on Sunday that the rig for the drilling of the exploratory wells at the licenses will become available in December, after the rig completes three other wells, two in Israel and one in Cyprus.
Earlier this month, Modiin Energy’s partner in the licenses, Israel Land Development Company Energy announced that drilling of the exploratory wells by the Noble Homer Ferrington, owned by Noble Corporation would probably begin in January or February 2012. Modiin Energy said Sunday that this rig would be available from December 1.
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