The development of the giant Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, offshore Israel is nearly 60 percent complete.

    This is according to Noble Energy, the operator of the field, which on Friday shared the progress update as part of its quarterly report.

    Noble said the offshore gas field project was “nearly 60 percent complete, with anticipated first sales on schedule by the end of 2019.”

    During the second quarter, Noble drilled two final wells at the Leviathan field to total depth.

    “Completion activities are underway, and pipeline installation has been completed for infield flowlines and main gathering lines,” the company said.

    The final investment decision (FID) for the Leviathan development was made in February 2017. The first phase of development of the Leviathan is expected to cost around $3.75 billion.

Development plan

    The Leviathan, holding around 22 trillion cubic feet of gross recoverable resources, will be developed using a subsea system that connects production wells to a fixed platform located offshore with tie-in onshore in the northern part of Israel.

    The Leviathan platform will have an initial deck weight of 22,000 tons. Processed gas will connect to the Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. onshore transportation grid in the northern part of the country and to regional markets via onshore export pipelines. The development plan allows for future expansion from its initial 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) capacity to 2.1 Bcf/d.

Offshore platform installation will take the most of the next year, with commissioning and first gas scheduled for the end of 2019.

    In its presentation on Friday, Noble shared several milestones achieved at the project: Finished drilling program and began completion activity; Completed first subsea tree installation; Completed floating of the production decks; Finished pipelay for gathering lines;  Completed direct pipe shore crossing.

    Offshore platform installation will take the most of the next year, with commissioning and first gas scheduled for the end of 2019.

    Noble has already secured contracts for the supply of over 900 MMcf/d of gas from the Leviathan. Over 200 MMcf/d has been contracted to meet Israel domestic consumption, while 700 MMcf/d has been contracted for exports, evenly split between Jordan and Egypt.

    While working to bring the Leviathan online, Noble is extracting gas from its Tamar field offshore Israel.

    During the second quarter of 2018, the Tamar field helped bring Noble’s 2Q gross sales volumes in Israel to a quarterly record of more than 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day, driven by increased local demand.  Net sales volumes totaled 227 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day during the second quarter of 2018.