Israel's Tanin Gas Reserves Smaller Than Earlier Estimated

Israel's newest offshore natural gas find is likely to be smaller than earlier estimated, Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration announced Friday.

The Tanin gas reserves are estimated to hold 1.1 trillion cubic feet of gas, lower than 1.2 TCF announced by Noble Energy in February. Noble Energy is the involved in the drilling operations.

The reserve lies next to the massive Leviathan prospect, which is thought to contain 17 TCF. But the companies could extract the gas using much of Leviathan's infrastructure, which would reduce costs.

Haaretz newspaper said the updated estimate, provided by oil-and-gas consulting firm NSAI, is based on a different geological model than Noble used. Noble had used an average, while NSAI's figure is a median, in keeping with instructions from the Israel Securities Authority.

The figure includes 0.6 TCF of proven gas finds, and another 0.5 TCF of potential gas. The gas find was initially confirmed in February. The gas lies 120 kilometers northwest of the Haifa coast, and northeast of Leviathan. The drilling was conducted at 5.5 kilometers below sea level.

The drilling license is owned by Noble (47% ), Delek (26.5% ) and Avner (26.5% ).