Another natural gas discovery off Israel’s shores announced by Energean who has a contingent contract for sale of 5.5 BCM’s; CEO of Energean: Discovery further demonstrates the attractiveness of our acreage offshore Israel.

The Greek energy company Energean Oil & Gas plc announced they discovered 28-42 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas in Israel’s North Karish gas field in the Mediterranean Sea. The company oversaw the drilling in North Karish from March through last week and confirmed it had completed the initial phase of drilling a week ahead of time, announcing the discovery on Monday.

Energean’s CEO Mathios Rigas released a statement, confirming and praising the discovery, stating “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 off-take for remaining volumes. We continue to see strong demand for our gas, which we believe will be supported by today’s announcement.”

Rigas also took to Twitter to highlight the opportunity the new gas discovery creates, stating, “The first gas discovery in Israel after a long time. Most importantly a discovery that can be commercialized very fast and not remain a “stranded gas field”. Energean is now a producer, developer and successful explorer in the Mediterranean.” The company has a contingent contract with Israel’s I.P.M. Beer Tuvia energy company for gas exports to sell a reported 5.5 BCM’s.

Energean operates in Israel, Greece and the Adriatic and is listed under both the London and Tel Aviv stock exchanges. The new gas discovery is in addition to 45 BCM of natural gas already found near the site. It also is close to Energean’s floating production storage and offloading site, giving a reported capability of exporting 8 billion cubic meters per year. Israel’s Tamar field boasts 281 BCM in natural gas, with another 605 BCM at the Leviathan gas field.

Prime Minister Netanyahu last met with Israel’s gas pipeline partners from Greece and Cyprus with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem last month.  During that meeting, Israel finalized an agreement with Greece, Italy and Cyprus to move forward with construction of the East Med pipeline. The pipeline is set to be the world’s longest, around 2,000 kilometers. The deal is worth over $7 billion and has been under negotiations as part of the trilateral meetings between Israel, Greece and Cyprus. A tripartite committee was formed with continued agreements and joint projects in tourism, education, search and rescue, the pipeline and much more. The pipeline is expected to be completed by 2024.

The creation of the gas pipeline will not only benefit Israel’s economy and diplomatic and trade relations with European states, but has also placed Israel as a significant player as the world’s largest natural gas exporter. It has also allowed Israel to become the region’s main player in natural energy, with deals in negotiations with Egypt and Jordan.

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