Leviathan developers axing floater option

The partners in the development of the Leviathan gasfield offshore Israel have submitted a revised development plan, Israeli conglomerate Delek Group announced on Thursday.

Noble Energy, Delek and subsidiary Avner Oil Exploration have proposed replacing the original floater concept with a fixed platform in their request to the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources.
The partners argue that the fixed platform concept would produce first gas on a faster schedule than a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. With a final investment decision due by the end of this year, first gas is scheduled for Q4 2019.

The revised development plan envisions the drilling of eight wells, two of which have already been drilled. If executed in two phases, the development project would see the completion of the two mentioned wells as well as the drilling of two additional wells take place in phase one. The installation of the fixed platform, accompanied by treatment facilities, would also be included in the first phase of development. This costs of this phase, with an anticipated yearly processing capacity of 12 bcm (424 bcf), are estimated to be in the range of USD 4 billion.

Phase two would entail four more production wells and increasing the capacity by some 9 bcm (318 bcf), hiking the total gas production capacity of the project by 5 bcm (177 bcf) per year.
Costs estimates for first gas have been revised down to USD 5 billion-6 billion, representing potential cost savings of USD 1 billion.