Noble confirms Karish find

Noble Energy confirmed that it has made a natural gas discovery at the Karish prospect off Israel.

The Karish discovery well, located in the Alon C license 20 miles northeast of Tamar field, encountered 184ft of net natural gas pay in high-quality lower Miocene sands. The Ensco 5006 semisubmersible rig drilled the well to 15,783ft TD at water depths of 5,700ft.

Noble said discovered gross resources, combined with the de-risked resources in an adjacent fault block on the license, are estimated to range between 1.6-2 Tcf with a gross mean of 1.8 Tcf.

Last week, Noble's partner Delek announced that the Karish well had encountered 'significant signs of gas.'

Noble hailed the Karish find as its fifth discovered field with an estimated gross mean resource size over 1 Tcf and its seventh consecutive field discovery with its Levant Basin partners.  The Levant Basin's total discovered gross mean resouces, including recent discoveries at Karish, Tamar, and Leviathan, are now estimated at 38 Tcf.

The Ensco 5006 will relocate to Cyprus where it is scheduled to spud an appraisal well at the Cyprus A discovery next month, Noble said.

Noble Energy operates the Alon C license with a 47.06% interest. Its partners include Avner Oil and Delek Drilling (26.47% each).