Developers of Leviathan natural gas field approved a plan to invest $3.75bn in the first phase of Israel’s biggest offshore field.
The final investment decision has been approved by the partners which includes Noble Energy and Delek Group.
Located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea area off the coast of Israel, the Leviathan field is estimated to contain 22 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gross recoverable natural gas resources.
As per the initial development plan, four subsea wells will be drilled with each capable of flowing more than 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas.
Gas production from the field is scheduled to start by the end of 2019.
Noble Energy chairman, president and CEO David Stover said: "Bringing Leviathan online will expand Israel's supply of natural gas, further support the State's commitment to convert coal-fired power generation facilities to cleaner burning gas, and provide affordable energy resources to Israeli citizens and neighboring countries in the undersupplied region.”
The project partners are planning to drill one to two development wells at the Leviathan field in 2017 and complete all the four production wells in 2018.
The gas produced and gathered at the field will be delivered to processing platform located approximately 6 miles offshore via two 73-mile flowlines.
Subsequently, the processed gas will be transferred to Israel Natural Gas Lines’ onshore transportation grid for export.
Delek Group president and CEO Asaf Bartfeld said: “Developing Leviathan and pursuing more export agreements, coupled with supply to the domestic market, will ensure energy security for Israel and will add to Delek Group’s stability.”
Noble Energy has 39.66% interest in the Leviathan field with while other partners include Delek Drilling with 22.67% interest, Avner Oil Exploration with 22.67%, and Ratio Oil Exploration with 15% stake.
Image: The Leviathan field is located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea area off the coast of Israel. Photo: courtesy of NASA/Wikipedia.