Second Israeli offshore licensing round ends
Published by Nicholas Woodroof,
Editor
Oilfield Technology,
The first group is composed of the British companies Cairn and Soco and the Israeli company Ratio. The second group is composed of Energean, which has recently purchased Edison and Israel Opportunity.
The two British companies, Soco and Cairn, join the international companies that have been operating in Israel for the last few years, namely Noble Energy and Energean.
In the second bidding round, the Ministry of Energy had tendered 19 exploration licenses (blocks), each one up to 400 km² in size. The 19 licenses were grouped into five zones, each up to 1600 km² in size.
The decision to market the areas in zones of 3 – 4 licenses, was taken to provide a higher degree of compatibility between the geological structures within the exploration areas, which could contain oil and natural gas reservoirs. Holding larger exploration areas will enable the companies to undertake more extensive and thorough geological and geophysical surveys.
To encourage international companies to participate in the competitive process, Minister of Energy, Dr. Yuval Steinitz and the Director General of the Ministry, Udi Adiri, together with other officials in the Ministry held multiple meetings with international energy companies. In addition, professional teams from the Ministry took part in a number of international conferences to market Israel’s offshore exploration areas.
Steinitz said: “A few years after the gas outline, we are getting more international groups which will explore for and develop the State of Israel’s oil and gas resources. The proposals that we received will increase significantly the number of oil and gas exploration licenses in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone, from 8 to 20.”
“The arrival of additional European companies to Israel, combined with the fact that the Leviathan platform will soon be connected to the shore and the ongoing work on the development of the Karish field, will lead to the breakup of the monopoly and enhance competition in this sector. We are continuing to work towards transforming Israel into a regional energy power”.
Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/offshore-and-subsea/19072019/second-israeli-offshore-licensing-round-ends/
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