Page 12 - MEOG Week 03 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Energean takes FID on Karish North

ISRAEL LONDON-LISTED Energean last week for the exploration wells is thought to be around
announced that it had taken a final investment 70%.
decision (FID) on its Karish North gas develop- The prospects located close to Karish and
ment, offshore Israel, less than two years after could be tapped through tie-backs rather than a
making the discovery. separate unit, thereby reducing the cost of devel-
In a statement to press, CEO Mathios Rigas oping any potential finds. Rigas told Upstream
said the move proved “the value of the Ener- that unlike at Karish and Tanin, which were
gean Power FPSO as a quick and low-cost com- acquired from Delek Group, Energean would
mercialisation route for our assets in Israel”. not have to pay the Israeli firm any royalties at
He added: “We are also increasing the liquid Block 12.
processing capacity of our FPSO to process the Meanwhile, the gas sales agreements were
additional volumes we discovered for minimal signed entailing the provision of 1.4 bcm of gas
incremental cost.” to Ramat Hovay Power Plant partnership over
Energean, which operates Karish North and a period of 20 years. Ramat Hovay is a venture
the nearby Karish main, has been certified to between Israel’s Shikun & Binui and Edeltech
contain gross 2C resources of 1.2 trillion cubic Group. The deals take the total amount of con-
feet (33.7bn cubic metres) of gas and 39mn bar- tracted sales gas from Karish to 7 bcm per year,
rels of liquids, according to a competent person’s leaving 1 bcm available.
report (CPR) by DeGolyer & McNaughton pub- Speaking to Upstream, Rigas said that the
lished in June 2020. development of Tanin had been delayed as the
The Karish asset is estimated to hold 267mn company had prioritised the cheaper Karish
barrels of oil equivalent of 2P reserves as well as North. He said that Karish North would likely
another 37mn boe of 2C resources. The discov- cost $150-200mn, while capex for Tanin is esti-
ery was made in April 2019. mated to be around $900mn.
Energean will tie back Karish North 5.4 km to He said: “Karish North is pushing back Tanin.
the Energean Power FPSO following approval in Our next step will be to drill the Athena and Zeus
August last year of the company’s field develop- prospects. If successful, we expect that would
ment plan, which foresees first gas flows in the allow us to push Tanin even further back.”
second half of 2023. Meanwhile, despite hopes surrounding
The company expects to spend around United Nations-observed talks between Israel
$150mn on the first phase of the project to and Jordan, US Secretary of State Mike Pom-
deliver an IRR of more than 40%. peo said in late December that they remain
In September, Rigas was quoted as saying that “far apart” on an agreement on their maritime
Energean planned to secure a rig in late 2021 in border.
preparation for drilling at the Athena and Zeus The talks were originally meant to cover an
prospects in Block 12 once production begins at 854-square km triangle of disputed territory,
Karish. but Lebanese negotiators said that an additional
He was quoted by Upstream as saying: “We’re 1,460 square km area further south, that had pre-
very confident about the resources,” noting that viously been undisputed, be included in negoti-
the company hopes to discover 28.3-42.45 bcm ations. This area includes the Karish and Karish
of gas. Rigas added that the chance of success North gas fields as well as Block 72.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 20•January•2021