Energean awaits 30-year production license ahead of sanctioning phased gas development offshore Israel

London-based oil and gas player Energean is looking forward to receiving a 30-year production license soon for an area where a string of gas discoveries was made in 2022. These discoveries are part of a phased development off the coast of Israel for which a final investment decision (FID) is slated to be taken this year.

A multi-well East Mediterranean exploration drilling campaign in 2022 resulted in a collection of structures adjacent to Energean’s Karish and Tanin fields. These discoveries were originally called the Olympus Area and were formally approved by the Israeli government as the Katlan (Orca) reservoirs in May 2023.

The drilling program discovered and de-risked approximately 75 bcm – about 480 mmboe – of new gas resources, including 67 bcm – around 430 mmboe – of additional gas resources in Katlan. A field development plan for the Katlan/Tanin area was approved in December 2023 by the Israeli government.

As a result, Energean plans to take FID for the project in 2024 upon the finalization of EPC terms, which are currently under negotiation. The company expects to be granted a 30-year production license by the Israeli government for Katlan in the upcoming weeks. The Katlan field contains 1,1 tcf gas 2P reserves while total 2P reserves are 205.9 mmboe, including liquids.

As Energean is focused on backfilling the FPSO Energean Power and meeting growing gas demand in Israel and the region, the start of the Katlan development is set to extend the gas production plateau and entails the potential for exports.

Furthermore, Energean intends to develop the Katlan/Tanin area in a phased development, encompassing the Athena, Zeus, Hera, and Apollo accumulations. Katlan Phase 1a will focus on the Athena and Zeus structures while Phase 1b will target Hera and Apollo.

The production from this project will be tied back to the FPSO Energean Power, with initial gas production to be delivered to contracted Israeli clients. This FPSO’s initial capacity was up to 6.5 bcm/yr, thus, steps were taken to enable the FPSO and the sales gas pipeline to reach the ultimate capacity of 8 bcm/yr

To this end, Energean installed a second oil train and gas export riser and achieved the first gas from Karish North, debottlenecking FPSO capacity to 8 bcm/yr.

The firm started production from the Karish field offshore Israel in October 2022, after the FPSO Energean Power crossed the Suez Canal, as the first vessel of its type to do so, and reached the waters offshore Israel in early June 2022. 

Energean is working on expanding its footprint in the Mediterranean region. To this end, the firm revealed a new country entry at the end of 2023, thanks to partnership agreements to take over the operatorship helm at two Moroccan offshore licenses from Chariot.