Natural gas signs found in another drill site
US-Israeli exploration group that discovered large amounts of natural gas in Israeli waters earlier this year says discovered early signs of gas 60 kilometers off coast of Hadera
A US-Israeli exploration group that discovered large amounts of natural gas in Israeli waters earlier this year said on Sunday it found early signs of gas at a new drill site in the Mediterranean Sea.
Noble Energy, which leads the group, informed its Israeli partners that the Dalit-1 drill reached a depth of 3,660 meters (4,000 yards) and has begun to carry out electric tests, the Israeli companies said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Noble Energy owns 36% of the drilling site while Isramco Negev owns 28.75% and Avner Oil Exploration and Delek Drilling each hold 15.625%. Dor Gas Exploration owns 4%.
The first evaluation of the data shows signs of natural gas in the sands, the companies said.
"At this stage it is only preliminary data and the existence of a natural gas reserve and/or its size and/or economic worth has not yet been determined," the companies said.
The partners upon receiving more information expect to issue another statement in the coming days, including whether there is scope for carrying out production tests.
Earlier this year, the group led by Noble said it had found 5 trillion cubic feet (142 billion cubic meters) of natural gas at the Tamar-1 site, 90 kilometers west of the northern port of Haifa.
Dalit-1 is located 60 kilometers off the coast of Hadera, a city to the south of Haifa.
