Samedan Mediterranean Sea, an subsidiary of Ardmore, Okla.-based Noble Affiliates Inc., has found gas with an appraisal well drilled in the southern extension of Noa field off Israel. Although Noble did not report any test results for Noa South-1, it said it expects the well to produce at a rate higher than Noa-1's 30 MMcfd of gas.
Noa South-1 was drilled in 2,430 ft of water 23 miles off Israel. It is 2.2 miles south of discovery well Noa-1 and 8 miles west of the Mari-B field discovery. The well cut 114 ft of gas-bearing sands. In comparison, Noa-1 encountered 64 ft of gas-bearing sands.
"The Noa South No. 1 well confirms recoverable reserves of more than 200 bcf of gas in the Noa area and more than 1.3 tcf of gas in the greater Noa/Mari-B areas," Noble said in a statement.
Additional appraisal wells will be drilled later this year.
Partners in the field are in discussions with Israel Electric Corp. and have signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to supply 250 MMcfd of gas to IEC's power plants, with initial deliveries slated for late 2002 or early 2003.
Samedan Mediterranean Sea operates the lease with a 40% working interest; Avner Oil Exploration LP has 21.39%; Delek Drilling LP, 23.61%; and RB Mediterranean Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of R&B Falcon Corp., 15%.
The group owns similar working interests in nine additional exploration licenses and two preliminary permits off Israel, encompassing 1,062,675 gross acres.
