Noble Energy and its Israeli partners began drilling at the Dolphin-1 prospect off of Israel's Mediterranean coast, the Israeli partners said in a statement on Monday. The exploratory drilling is in the Hanna license which is southwest of the Tamar gas field which is currently being developed for commercial production.
Last week Delek Drilling and Avner Oil and Gas said that Noble had recommended taking advantage of the time required to conduct a routine Blowout Preventer system of the Sedco Express rig to start the first stage of exploration drillings in the Hanna and adjacent Alon-A licenses. The Israeli partners in the Hanna license decided to proceed with the exploratory drilling.
According to seismic data released today there is a 73% probability of finding 0.55 Tcf of gas in the three planned prospects in the Hanna license. Noble Energy holds a 39.66% stake in the Hanna license, Delek Drilling and Avner 27.67% each and Ratio Oil Exploration 15%.
The Dolphin-1 drilling which began Monday is located 110 km west of Haifa. The drilling will take place in two stages using the Sedco Express rig. The total cost of the drilling is put at $51 million. The first stage will be to a depth of 2,560 meters and is expected to last two weeks. The second stage of the exploratory drilling will be to the target depth of 6,000 meters but will only take place after the development of the Tamar field is completed. It is likely to take several months to complete.
The second license Alon-A is located to the northwest of the Tamar field and adjacent to the Leviathan field. Noble Energy has a 47.059% stake in Alon-A and Delek Drilling and Avner Oil and Gas each have a 26.4705% stake. Huge quantities of gas estimated at over 25 Tcf have been discovered in recent years at Tamar and Leviathan.
