US based petroleum consultant Ryder Scott has estimated the potential resource by covering five different sites about 170km off Israel’s coast.
Israel Opportunity said that the Pelagic fields has a high geological probability for success in global standards, between 28.5 and 76.7% depending on the exact site, due to its proximity to larger proven fields nearby.
The same area also comprises deep-sea field Leviathan and Tamar field with an estimated 450 billion cubic metres (16 trillion cubic feet) and 238 billion metres (8.4 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, respectively.
Israeli investors Benny Steinmetz and Teddy Sagi each control a 42.5% stake in the Pelagic fields, while Israel Opportunity holds a 10% share and Norwegian operator AGR has a 5% stake.
Drilling at the first Pelagic site is expected to begin by the consortium in the fourth quarter of 2012.