Independent oil and gas exploration and production company Energean Oil & Gas has received Class approval from assurance body DNV-GL for new-build floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) for a major oilfield development off Israel.

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Image: Illustration of Karish and Tanin FPSO. Photo: courtesy of Sembcorp Marine.

DNV-GL’s Class approval is for the basic design of the FPSO, which is planned to be deployed at the $1.6bn Karish-Tanin development project, offshore Israel.

Energean said in a statement: “Early Class approval was viewed as a critical milestone and its achievement, on schedule, validates the adopted strategy of building upon an existing hull design from TechnipFMC subsidiary, Inocean.”

The firm said it is on scheduled to cut first steel as planned before the end of 2018.

The Karish-Tanin project involves development of the Karish and Tanin fields located in the Levant Basin of the Mediterranean Sea, offshore Israel.

The fields are estimated to have 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 41 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of light hydrocarbon liquids, totaling 531 mmboe of 2C resources.

Energean Israel, which is a 50/50 joint venture between Energean Oil and Gas and Kerogen Capital, owns the Karish and Tanin fields which are scheduled to commence production in 2020.

Energean Oil & Gas CEO Mathios Rigas earlier said: “The Karish & Tanin development will bring competition and security of supply to the Israeli gas market, and will support Energean’s strategy to become a major player in the gas developments of the East Mediterranean.”

The Karish and Tanin FPSO, which is planned to be installed approximately 90km from shore, will have a capacity of 400Mcf/d. It will enable the recovery of hydrocarbons with minimal impact on the environment.

Additionally, the FPSO will have capacity to process, store and offload light oil, while eliminating the need for onshore installations.