LONDON, UK: Energean plc (LSE: ENOG) announced that a commercial gas discovery has been made by the Athena exploration well, offshore Israel.
Highlights
· Commercial discovery made by the Athena exploration well, Block 12, in the A, B and C sands. Preliminary analysis indicates that the Athena discovery contains recoverable gas volumes of 8 bcm (283 bcf / (51 mmboe) on a standalone basis.
· This discovery is particularly significant as it de-risks an additional 50 bcm (1.8 tcf / (321 mmboe) of mean unrisked prospective resources across Energean’s Olympus Area (total 58 bcm/372mmboe including Athena).
o The Olympus Area is Energean’s newly defined area which includes Athena, plus the undrilled prospects on Block 12 and the adjacent Tanin Lease.
· Athena can be commercialised in the near-term via tie-back to the Energean Power FPSO, enhancing the profitability of the Karish-Tanin development. Alternatively, it could form part of a new Olympus Area development.
· Energean is therefore actively pursuing development options for the commercialisation of the wider Olympus Area, (potentially including Athena), such as:
o Further domestic Israeli gas sales:
§ New Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements (“GSPA”) underpinned by the continued growth of the Israeli power market
§ Spot sales
o Export options:
§ Developing the Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) signed with The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (“EGAS”) for the supply of up to 3 Bcm/yr into a binding agreement
§ Exports to other regional and European markets via pipeline and LNG via Cyprus and/or Egypt
· The economics of gas produced and sold from Block 12 are not subject to royalties payable to the original sellers of the Karish and Tanin leases, leading to an approximate 8% increase in revenue for the same volumes sold, when compared with the Karish and Tanin discoveries
Mathios Rigas, Chief Executive of Energean, commented: “We are delighted to announce this new gas discovery at Athena and the potential of the wider Olympus Area. We are considering a range of strategic commercialisation options both for a standalone and wider Olympus Area development, including domestic and multiple export routes.
“This discovery and the broader de-risking of a number of prospects in the Olympus Area reaffirms the role of the East Mediterranean as a global gas exploration hotspot. It strengthens our commitment to provide competition and security of supply to the region, enables the optimisation of our Israel portfolio and fulfils one of our key milestones for 2022.”
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