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How high impact well delivery is playing a critical role in Israel’s energy security ambitions

How high impact well delivery is playing a critical role in Israel’s energy security ambitions

Published:
May 2, 2023

With demand for gas in Israel expected to double in the next decade, Energean, an independent exploration and production company, knew there was an opportunity to support the country’s domestic energy supply with the development of its deepwater gas reserves in the Karish field 80km offshore Israel.

As a smaller operator, lacking the in-house capabilities of the supermajors that usually tackle deepwater development projects like these, its greatest challenge was how to build a team with the right skills and expertise to secure a licence and funding to drill and safely deliver multi-well deepwater campaigns.

The company turned to Elemental Energies’ team of wells experts to underpin their in-house capabilities. We provided well project management consultancy support from pre-licence award, field development planning through to project sanction and execute phase planning, as well as the successful execution of two drilling campaigns which were delivered ahead of first gas in 2022.

An agile approach to deepwater well campaigns

Undaunted by the task ahead of it Energean Israel chose to play to its strengths with a nimble contracting strategy that identified partners including Elemental Energies who shared their commitment to high performance and agility and who would ultimately enable them to deliver this flagship project in the Mediterranean.  

Energean is a very different outfit from that of the supermajors. While they don’t have the full in-house capability of a supermajor, they do have the agile and collaborative culture needed to successfully forge long-term partnerships that saw them draw on the expertise of Elemental Energies, Stena Drilling and Halliburton.

Key challenges included:

Gaining the trust of the Israeli government and key stakeholders

As a smaller player in the global market, operating a lean business with strict capital discipline Energean needed to demonstrate its delivery capability to ensure that it has the right capabilities, approach and resources to safely and efficiently deliver this high-profile project.  

Overcoming the unique set of engineering challenges posed by deepwater campaigns

Since this was new territory for Energean, they chose to implement Elemental Energies’ proven well delivery process and management system to govern well project delivery. This minimised risk and allowed efficiencies learned from previous projects to be incorporated.

Implementing an operating model that will deliver on time and on budget

Operating as a lean business with strict capital allocation, a safe, sustainable, on-schedule and within budget project delivery is critical to Energean’s success.  The flexibility of working with an independent engineering consultancy such as Elemental Energies allowed the team to dovetail with in-house capabilities to provide the technical project expertise that super majors would have in-house. It was through this approach that Energean was able to deliver its flagship project.

Developing an effective supply chain and logistics operation

Given its complex nature, the project required a global supply chain with equipment, supplies, and support teams from around the world. Yet, since the local industry is still in its infancy, the infrastructure to deliver such a project had to be established. Key to this was selecting the right supply chain partners as part of a cohesive contracting strategy that would maximise the value of experience of the global tier 1 partners.  

With the first two phases of the project successfully delivered, Energean along with Elemental Energies and its other partners is now focused on the planning for phase three.

Key outcomes so far include:

This is a true energy success story. Not only has a smaller, independent operator been able to deliver a flagship project of national importance but it also highlights what can be achieved with the right collaborative and experienced partners, proven processes, and ways of working.

To discover how Elemental Energies can support your next project, click here.

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