Noble Confirms Tamar Gas Flows (Israel)

After several media have reported that natural gas from Tamar field, offshore Israel, had started flowing last Saturday, Noble Energy, operator of the field today confirmed the information.

In its press release, the U.S.-based company said that the field has been successfully brought online with all five of the subsea wells now producing at stable rates totaling approximately 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d).

When combined with existing Mari-B volumes, the total current sales are nearly 500 MMcf/d and are expected to average 700 MMcf/d through the remainder of the year. Initial sales commenced on March 31 as natural gas flowed from the field to the Tamar platform and then to the Ashdod Onshore Terminal.

The development is designed to deliver natural gas rates up to 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Volumes will likely reach this maximum capacity during the peak summer demand in the third quarter this year.

Charles D. Davidson, Noble Energy’s Chairman and CEO, commented, “In just over four years from discovery, the Tamar project is fully operational and delivering significant volumes of natural gas to Israel. The project is a technological and commercial milestone for Noble Energy and our partners. This is the third major global project we have brought online in the last 18 months and it will make a significant contribution to our continuing production growth. Building on this success, we are working with the government and our partners to sanction the next phase of development at Tamar and the domestic phase of Leviathan.”

The gross resource estimate of Tamar has been increased to 10 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), up from 9 Tcf, as a result of development drilling and continued reservoir analysis and modeling. An independent assessment conducted by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. supports the new resource estimate.

Longest subsea tieback in the world

The Tamar development includes five subsea wells capable of flowing 250 MMcf/d of natural gas each. Natural gas flows from the field through the longest subsea tieback in the world for more than 90 miles to a platform near the existing Mari-B structure. The Tamar platform is tied into the existing pipeline that delivers natural gas to the Ashdod onshore receiving terminal.

Noble Energy operates Tamar with a 36 percent working interest. Other interest owners are Isramco Negev 2 with 28.75 percent, Delek Drilling with 15.625 percent, Avner Oil Exploration with 15.625 percent and Dor Gas Exploration with the remaining four percent.