Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) is trading higher this morning due to the announcement of “a significant natural gas discovery” at the Leviathan exploration prospect offshore Israel. Leviathan-1 is located in approximately 5,400 feet of water and is located about 80 miles offshore of Haifa and about 29 miles southwest of the Tamar discovery.
The company said that it has drilled in the Rachel license and the well encountered a minimum of 220 feet of net natural gas pay in several subsalt Miocene intervals. It also noted that the apparent reservoir quality is “very good, and the intervals discovered are geologically similar to those intersected at Tamar.”
Noble indicated that the results from the well confirm the pre-drill estimated resource range with a gross mean for Leviathan of 16 trillion cubic feet. The Leviathan field is estimated to cover approximately 125 square miles and will require two or more appraisal wells to further define total gas resources.
Noble Energy is indicated up 3.4% at $87.90, which puts in a new 52-week high as the range of the last year has been $56.23 to $86.89.
JON C. OGG
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks