Delek Drilling, a partner in Noble Energy’s large Aphrodite gas and condensate discovery offshore Cyprus in the deepwater Mediterranean Sea, has slightly upgraded its contingent and prospective resources estimate for the find but also outlined ongoing field studies that now include a potential combined development with the nearby Leviathan field to export the gas.

The company, also partnered by fellow Israeli company Avner Oil Exploration, says the discovery in Block 12 – based on the latest data available from the Aphrodite-2 well in License Area 370 (Ishai) – is still under study for various development options.

This includes a possible regional export pipeline to Egypt’s energy-hungry market. Noble is already committed via various Letters of Intent to pipe an initial 1.65 Bcf/d of Israeli gas from its producing Tamar field and its eventually producing Leviathan field to the regional export market.

One option being considered by Noble Energy, says Delek, includes the possibility of combining Aphrodite’s development with those of nearby reservoirs in the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone, including the 22 Tcf Leviathan gas field. A combined development, DI understands, would mean a likely subsea tieback of Aphrodite’s resources to the planned 1.6 Bcf/d Leviathan Phase I gas FPSO, which is expected to start producing in 2018.

Other options under consideration for Leviathan and Aphrodite in future phases include a 3-4 Mtpa Floating LNG facility, further regional pipelines and a possible onshore Cyprus LNG plant at Vasilikos, according to Noble’s own latest investor presentation. The latter onshore Cyprus LNG option, on which a pre-FEED study has already been completed, is however expected to need further discovered resources to be economically viable in order to feed individual 4-7 Mtpa trains.

“In the light of the estimated scope of the contingent and prospective natural gas resources in the Aphrodite reservoir, and in the light of the limited scope of the potential local gas market in Cyprus, the main potential market for these resources is the international market,” says Delek.

“At the date of this report, the partners in Block 12 in Cyprus are assessing, together with the Cyprus government, regional development possibilities to export natural gas from the Aphrodite reservoir, including via a pipeline to regional markets, including Egypt. The partners in Block 12 and the Cyprus government intend to formulate a development plan for the Aphrodite reservoir under the Production Sharing Contract, which will include inter alia constructing the required infrastructure for exporting natural gas,” it said in its latest report.

Updated data from Aphrodite-2 saw Delek change its resources guidance, with reserves previously defined as prospective now reclassified as contingent. This figure has increased by about 12% the general volumes (prospective and contingent) of the natural gas and condensate resources in the Aphrodite reservoir, it said, and also an increase in the chances of success of the prospective resources that remain with this classification in the reservoir.

In more detail, the quantity of gas and condensate resources included in the Aphrodite reservoir (prospective and contingent resources) have increased in the low estimate by about 23%, and in the high estimate by 1%. In the best estimate there was an increase of 12% from 4.05 Tcf and 8.1 MMbbl of condensate in the previous estimates to 4.54 Tcf and 9 MMbbl of condensate in the present estimate. The main factors in these changes were an increase in the estimate of the gross rock volume of the reservoir, and an increase in the estimate in the gas saturation values, said Delek, based on an updated analysis of a seismic survey shot by PGS and the logs of three wells drilled in the reservoir (Aphrodite A-1, Aphrodite A-2 and Aphrodite-2).

The Aphrodite-2 well, drilled in the central fault block, proved the existence of gas in sand layers A and C, and accordingly the resources in these sands (previously classified as prospective) have now been classified as contingent. In total, the quantity of contingent resources in the reservoir is now put at 3.48 Tcf in the best estimate, compared with 1.78 Tcf in the previous report.

In addition, there still remain prospective resources in the southwestern fault block, it added.

The overwhelming majority of the Aphrodite reservoir is located in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus, and a minority in the Ishai License in the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone.

Noble Energy has a 70% stake as operator in Aphrodite, with Delek and Avner holding 15% each.

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