Energean Secures Israeli Approvals

Energean Oil & Gas' 50/50 JV with UK-US private equity fund Kerogen Capital has received approval from the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner for its development of the Karish and Tanin natural gas fields, offshore Israel, it said August 30.

Energean Israel owns all the fields, which have combined reserves of 2.7 trillion ft³ of natural gas and 41mn boe. The Karish main development envisages drilling three wells, using a floating production storage and offloading unit that will be about 90 km offshore and have a production capacity of 400mn ft³/day.

The next stage in the field development, which envisages first gas production in 2020, is to reach the final investment decision (FID) which is anticipated before the end of 2017. The company has appointed Morgan Stanley as project finance advisor for the $1.3bn-1.5bn investment required for the Karish development.

Commenting on the approval, Energean CEO Mathios Rigas, said: “We are working at full speed to achieve the planned FID [final investment decision] by year end, and we have made significant progress in agreeing terms on the necessary gas sales contracts to this effect. We have already signed agreements or MOUs for volumes exceeding 3bn m³/yr. FDP approval takes us a significant step nearer to delivering a more competitive gas market to the benefit of the people and businesses of Israel.”

William Powell