Energean shares were up 4.3% to 1,360p in early morning trading on Monday, following a reported gas discovery by the company’s Athena exploration well in offshore Israel.
The discovery was made in block 12, in the A, B and C sands, with preliminary results indicating recoverable volumes of 8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas on a standalone basis.
Energean highlighted that the discovery also de-risked an additional 50 bcm of mean unrisked prospective resources across the company’s Olympus Area, which includes the Athena exploration well and undrilled prospects on Block 12, and the adjacent Tanin Lease.
The energy group said it would be actively pursuing development options for the commercialisation of the wider Olympus area, including new domestic Israeli gas sales, and export options such as developing the memorandum of understanding signed with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to supply up to 3 bcm per year into a binding contract.
The firm clarified that the economics of gas extracted and sold from block 12 were not subject to royalties payable to the original sellers of the Karish and Tanin leases, which would lead to an estimated 8% revenue growth for the same volumes sold in comparison to the Karish and Tanin discoveries.
“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,” said Energean CEO Mathios Rigas.
“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.”