Israel's Tamar gas to flow by late 2012

Noble Energy Inc., Houston, has sanctioned the $3 billion development of Tamar gas field in the Levant basin in the eastern Mediterranean off Israel and expects gas delivery to begin around the end of 2012.

Sept. 24, 2010

2 min read

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 24 – Noble Energy Inc., Houston, has sanctioned the $3 billion development of Tamar gas field in the Levant basin in the eastern Mediterranean off Israel and expects gas delivery to begin around the end of 2012.

Tamar, with an estimated 8.4 tcf of recoverable gas in 5,500 ft of water, is to be developed with five subsea wells capable of flowing 200-250 MMcfd/well of gas.

Production will be gathered at the field and delivered via two 16-in. flowlines to a new Tamar platform to be built adjacent to the Mari-B platform in 795 ft of water. The Tamar platform will tie into the existing 30-in. pipeline that delivers gas to the Ashdod onshore receiving terminal, which has an initial processing capacity of as much as 1 bcfd.

The project design and connectivity to Mari-B will also provide for gas injection and withdrawal in the Mari-B reservoir. In addition, the development will allow for significant expansion as the market for gas grows.

The majority of key project components have been awarded and development drilling is scheduled to commence by early 2011. Project installation is expected to be complete and commissioning initiated in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Noble Energy operates Tamar, discovered in 2009 in the Matan license, with a 36% working interest. Other interest owners are Isramco Negev 2 with 28.75%, Delek Drilling with 15.625%, Avner Oil Exploration with 15.625%, and Dor Gas Exploration with 4%.

Noble Energy also operates Mari-B with 47.059% working interest. Delek Drilling has 25.5%, Avner Oil Exploration 23%, Delek Investment 4.441%.