The Israeli Petroleum Commissioner awarded Greek Energean Oil & Gas five offshore exploration licenses within the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the company announced on Wednesday.
The awarded licenses comprise blocks 12, 21, 22, 23 and 31, which were offered in Israel's first offshore bid round on Nov. 15.
The initial exploration period under each license is three years, Energean said.
The blocks are located near the Karish and Tanin gas fields that are currently being prepared for development by Energean.
The Israeli government granted approval to the company for field development planning for the Karish and Tanin fields in August 2017 with the aim of using a FPSO to produce first gas in 2021.
"Energean believes that the licenses awarded are highly prospective and would benefit, in the event of any economic hydrocarbon discoveries, from being developed via tie-backs to the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) that Energean will construct for the development of the Karish and Tanin fields," the statement read.
Energean is the only oil and gas producer in Greece that operates in offshore Israel, Greece, the Adriatic region and Egypt.
In a statement in November, the Israeli Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz said that the bid round is the first step in a long-term process that would lead to full exploitation of gas and oil resources in the Israeli EEZ.
"We are planning to launch a second licensing round in 2018, where lessons learned from the first bid round will be incorporated, and thus continue the effort to develop these strategic assets in Israel's EEZ," Steinitz said.
(Anadolu Agency)
