Last week, Noble Energy announced that drilling
of the Leviathan 3 well was complete. Today, the US company issued an updated
estimate of the reserves in the Leviathan field, of 17 TCF (trillion cubic
feet), which compares with a previous estimate of 16 TCF.
Market expectations were
for reserves of 19-20 TCF, so the current figures can be considered a
disappointment. However, there may be further updates from Noble Energy, and
the range Noble provided is 14-20 TCF.
The
rights in Leviathan 3 are owned by Noble Energy (39.666%), Delek Drilling
(22.25%), Avner (22.25%) and Ratio (15%).
The
Leviathan 3 drilling began in June, a kilometer away from the abandoned
Leviathan 2 well. It is aimed at establishing more accurately the size of the
Leviathan reserve discovered in late 2010.