Energean Israel, a subsidiary of leading independent E&P company Energean Oil & Gas, has signed a contract with Stena Drilling for the development drilling of its Karish Field, offshore Israel, the firm has announced.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Sweden’s Stena AB, Stena Drilling, headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, and standing as one of the world’s leading independent drilling contractors, will deploy the Stena Forth drillship, or any substitute agreed to by the parties, to drill three development wells in Q1 2019, with provision for further options, subject to Energean’s Final Investment Decision (FID) regarding the Karish and Tanin fields.

The Stena Forth, one of the DrillMAX Fleet vessels, is a DP Class 3 ultra-deep water drillship with a track record in world-wide operations, ranging from the Mediterranean (Libya), Egypt (Gulf of Suez), Malaysia, Greenland and the US (Gulf of Mexico).

The Stena Forth will be mobilised from Las Palmas, Spain, where the vessel is currently located. The Karish development program includes the drilling of three development wells and production from a new Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, approximately 90km offshore. First gas is expected in 2021.

Energean considers this agreement to be a significant step in the development of Karish and part of a development plan targeting gas supply to the growing Israeli gas market.

Stena Drilling’s calibre, experience and safety record was crucial in making this decision, given Energean’s commitment to achieving the highest standards of HSE performance and the requirement to operate in line with or exceed the European Directive on Safety of Offshore Oil & Gas Operations, as implemented by the UK safety directive, the company noted.