• The Pelagic consortium could begin to drill in the Ishai licence – on the Israeli side of Cyprus’ Aphrodite structure – before the end of October, MEES understands. The Israeli group will take possession of the Homer Ferrington rig – used by Noble Energy at the Aphrodite discovery well in Cyprus’ Block 12 last December – as soon as it has completed drilling the first well in the Sarah license, MEES learns. The new well will be the second in the offshore structure located some 200 km south of the island. It will be drilled to a depth of 6,000 ms in a water depth of 1,700 ms at a cost of $103mn and is scheduled to take 87 days to complete. The estimated size of the gas resource in the Ishai license is 3.7 tcf. MEES understands that if a discovery should be made, Pelagic would seek to unitize the field and monetize the resource through a Cyprus-led export scheme.
• Russia’s Gazprom has placed the highest bid for a 30% stake in Israel’s offshore Leviathan gas field, Globes reported on 16 October. Israel’s Delek Group, which is partnered with Houston-based Noble Energy, is reported by the online daily to be “enthusiastic” about the bid, but Noble would prefer a Western partner, it added. (CONTINUED - 274 WORDS)
