Modiin: 133m barrels of oil at Yam Hadera

The offshore reservoir has a best estimate of 1.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Modiin fully owns the Yam Hadera license, which comprises of three formations - Barnea, Shderot, and Zohar - in two sections, the northern and southern closures. The license is located 30 kilometers offshore between Hadera and Haifa. The license is valid through February 14, 2013. The survey covered a 485-square kilometer area and cost $4.4 million.

The low-end estimate is 49.7 million barrels of oil and the high-end estimate is 343.5 million barrels. The oil and gas are found in Cretaceous strata.

“We do not usually hold press conferences, but this time we decided to make an exception since the results from Yam Hadera are very significant," IDB CEO Haim Gavrieli said this morning.

Sultan said, “We are currently one of the most liquid partnerships in the market. We are considering partnerships with local and foreign entities or remaining 100% private. I must say that we have had many offers for partnerships, some of which were quite surprising.”

On Wednesday, Modiin will provide the Ministry of Infrastructure with a drilling proposal, and will sign an agreement with the drilling rig by February 1. Drilling is slated to begin by June 1. The company estimates the cost of drilling at NIS 70-100 million.

Modiin Energy's share price rose 1.6% in early trading today to NIS 0.38, giving a market cap of NIS 720 million.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 4, 2011

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