Wednesday 7 December 2016

Greek player Energean Oil & Gas has secured the $148 million acquisition of the Karish and Tanin offshore gas fields from Israel’s Delek Drilling and Avner, after landing the approval of the Petroleum Council of Israel, which gave the deal the official green light.

Energean will now proceed towards completion of the transaction, and then it plans to submit to the Israeli authorities a field development plan for both fields in mid-2017, it said.

The development of Karish and Tanin, discovered in 2013 and 2011 respectively, is expected to involve an investment of around $1 billion over the next few years.

The company intends to produce first gas in 2020.

The fields were previously owned by Delek and its US partner Noble Energy. The sellers will also be entitled to royalties for gas and condensate that is produced in future from the fields, estimated to hold combined gas reserves of 3 trillion cubic feet.

“We are delighted to have received the approval of the Israeli Government on this transaction and for their swift consideration of the matter,” Energean chief executive Mathios Rigas said.

“Karish and Tanin will supply the Israeli domestic market for many years and we are eager to press ahead with its development as soon as possible,” Rigas said.

Rigas said that the company will be selecting proposed contracting partners in the near future.

“We will also be starting negotiations with potential gas users and are confident that we can deliver competitive gas prices and services for the Israeli consumers,” he added.

The Karish and Tanin field development plan is the third that Energean is committed to over the next few years with development programmes being prepared for the Epsilon, in the North Aegean Sea, and West Katakolon, off Greece’s west coast.

West Katakolon was approved to move into development by the Greek Government in late November. Drilling here is planned for 2018.

A field development plan for West Katakolon will be submitted to the Ministry of Energy by the end of February, Energean said.

The company said it anticipates an investment of around $1.3 billion in exploration and development (including Karish and Tanin) over the next five years.