New gas discovery reported off coast of Israel

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Oil and gas company Energean on Thursday announced a new gas discovery in the Hermes field in the Mediterranean Sea, off the Israeli coast.

“The Hermes exploration well, block 31, offshore Israel, has made a commercial discovery,” the company said in a statement.

“Preliminary estimates indicate that the structure contains 7-15 bcm (billion cubic meters) of recoverable natural gas resources,” it added.

Energean said: “Detailed analysis of the data collected by the well is ongoing, with the aim of refining volumetric estimates and potential commerciality for both the discovery and the full area.”

Currently, Israel is extracting gas from the Leviathan and Tamar fields. It also seeks to reach a maritime border agreement with Lebanon before beginning production from the disputed Karish field.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi in Ankara contributed to this report.