Sara (or Sarah) and Myra (or Mira) () were two

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the ter ...

licenses located west of

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, Israel. The licenses expired on July 13, 2015. Exploratory drilling in the license area in 2012 was unsuccessful, but seismic studies indicated the possibility of oil and gas at deeper strata that were not explored.

Background

Sara (Israeli oil exploration license number 348) and Myra (347) were offshore drilling licenses located 40 kilometers off the coast of

. They were situated south and southwest of the confirmed Dalit gas field and southeast of the

Leviathan gas field The Leviathan gas field is a large natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, south-west of the Tamar gas field. The gas field is roughly west of Haifa in waters deep in the Levantine basin, a rich hydrocarbon area ...

. A preliminary two-dimensional geological survey carried out by Chapman Petroleum Ltd. in 2010 estimated there to be upwards of of natural gas, equivalent to US$8–10 billion. Subsequent analysis of a three-dimensional seismic survey conducted in 2011 by

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-based oil and gas consulting firm Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc. confirmed a 54% probability of of natural gas for the licenses, as well as an 18% probability of of oil.

Exploration

License partner GeoGlobal Resources announced in July 2011 that it finalized an agreement with

Noble Corporation Noble Corporation plc is an offshore drilling contractor organized in London, England. Its affiliate, Noble Corporation, is organized in the Cayman Islands. It is the corporate successor of Noble Drilling Corporation. The company operates 24 dr ...

for use of the latter's ''Homer Ferrington''

drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to ...

. Subsequently, Ofer Nimrodi of ILDC Energy, announced that drilling operations at Sara and Myra would commence in the first quarter of 2012. A preliminary meeting between the CEO of ILDC Energy and representatives of the

Israel Electric Corporation Israel Electric Corporation (IEC; ) is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub-stations, as well as transmission and distribution ...

suggested that Sara and Myra would begin supplying gas in 2015–2016. In June 2012, a first exploratory well was drilled in the Myra area to a depth of 4,659 meters at which point a technical failure prevented further drilling and the well was plugged. The prospective Jurassic oil zone is at 5000 meters. Drilling was redirected to explore the neighboring Tamar sands formation without success. The Sara area was drilled in September 2012 to explore Tamar sands at a depth of 3946 meters. This drilling was also unsuccessful. Deeper prospective gas zones in the Sara area are estimated to be at 5,100 and 5,300 meters, and a deeper prospective oil zone is at 5,400 meters. NSAI seismic analysis presented in the Modiin 2013 Annual Report indicated that the Sara license area had an estimated 20 BCM of gas in two deeper strata, with a 20-30% likelihood, and the Myra license had an estimated 64 million barrels of oil at a deeper strata, with a 16% likelihood.

History of ownership

Rights to the licenses were initially granted to PetroMed Corporation. In 2011, eight companies shared ownership of the licenses. At the time of expiration, the licenses were held by the following companies: Energean Oil & Gas (25%), Ratio Oil Exploration Partnership (25%), Modiin Energy Partnership (13.8%), Emanuelle Energy Ltd. (9.2%), Emanuelle Energy Oil and Gas Partnership (7.9%), IPC Partnership (6.4%), GeoGlobal Resources India Inc. (5%), ILDC Ltd (5%), and IDB Ltd. (2.7%).

References

External links

Chapman Petroleum Engineering Ltd.

GeoGlobal Resources Inc.

Israel Petroleum Company (IPC)

Ministry of National Infrastructures (Israel)

Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc.

Noble Corporation

ILDC properties in English
{{Resources in Israel Natural gas fields in Israel

Background

Exploration

History of ownership

See also

References

Further reading

External links