Energy explorer Noble Energy said Tuesday production during the third quarter soared because of advancements off the coast of Israel.
Noble, a partner in the development of the Tamar and Leviathan gas basins, said gas sales volumes from its Israeli assets were up 21 percent from the second quarter and up 3 percent year-on-year.
Tamar managing partners Noble and Israel's Delek Group estimate the field holds as much as 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Last week, they said they were negotiating the sale of at least 175 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year over the next three years with Egyptian buyer Dolphinus Holdings Ltd.
During the third quarter, the company said the "debottlenecking" of Tamar facilities led to a peak product of more than 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas output per day
Delek last week said gas sent from Tamar would be "interruptible," or designated only from excess reserves from the offshore field
"Combined for Tamar and Leviathan, Noble Energy and partners have executed letters of intent to export gross daily volumes of up to 1.7 billion cubic feet per day and total volumes of more than 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to regional export customers," the company stated. "Negotiations of final gas purchase and sales agreements are underway."
Noble reported net income for the third quarter of $419 million, up from $205 million during the same period last year.
