The development of the Katlan gas field in the Sea of Israel is proceeding with Energean, which announced on Tuesday morning, 23 July, on the London and Tel Aviv stock exchanges that it has received the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the project. 

The Karish (from October 2022) and Karish North (from February 2024) fields are already producing through the "Energean Power" FPSO, which is where Energean discovered the Katlan field in its 2022 drilling campaign as the "Olympus Area" in water depths of about 1,800 meters. The development will expand production from the FPSO with gas volumes that are not subject to export restrictions or royalty payments. Subject to the Israeli government issuing all necessary permits, production from Katlan will support the company's current gas sales and target exports to international markets. The start of gas production is set for the first half of 2027. 

Energean: Developing the Katlan gas field in Israel

Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean Group, commented, "The decision to develop the Katlan field marks another milestone in Energean's growth trajectory and comes as no surprise to those familiar with our successful track record and commitment to the efficient development of natural gas fields. 

By developing the Katlan field, we will unlock additional value in the Israeli subsurface, which will contribute to energy security and sustainable development both in Israel and in the wider region." 

The development of the Katlan field will be carried out by TechnipFMC and envisages the creation of a system of four wells in a large production line with pipelines of approximately 30 kilometres. The investment is in the order of $1.2 billion and includes:

1) The aforementioned subsea infrastructure.

2) The required upgrade of the FPSO mechanisms.

3) The drilling of the first two production wells on the Athena and Zeus structures containing 170 million barrels of oil equivalent proved (2P) reserves, including 26 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOP). cubic metres of natural gas. Phase 1 of the development of the Katlan field includes both the Hera and Apollo structures (together with Athena and Zeus containing a total of 229 million barrels of oil equivalent 2P proved reserves, including 35 billion barrels of gas equivalent and 35 billion cubic metres of natural gas equivalent) and was approved by the Israeli government in December 2023. 

The wider Katlan field area contains an additional 223 million barrels of oil equivalent (including 34 bcm of natural gas), which Energean considers to be de-risked. Their development will take place in subsequent phases and will require the installation of a smaller pipeline to connect to the Phase 1 pipeline, further leveraging the Energean Power upgrade and the Phase 1 investment. 

It is noted that the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has granted Energean a 30-year license for the Katlan field, with the possibility of extension for a further 20 years. The Ministry also confirmed the "Hermes" discovery that Energean made in the 2022 drilling campaign. Plus, the 3 3–5 billion bbl. cubic meters of the field is named "Drakon", located in Block 31 of the Israeli Sea.