London — Work to lay the main pipeline to link UK-based Energean's Karish and Tanin gas fields to the Israeli shore is now complete, the company said June 22.

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The 90 km pipeline will link to Energean's dedicated 8 Bcm/year FPSO, which will gather gas from the fields before sending it via the new pipeline to Israeli buyers.

Energean is developing a cluster of gas fields offshore Israel, comprising the Karish, Tanin and Karish North fields.

The dedicated FPSO Energean Power -- which sailed away from its Chinese shipyard in April to the Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard in Singapore -- will sit above the Karish field.

In a statement June 22, Energean said its partner TechnipFMC had completed on time the laying of the gas sales pipeline and the main deepwater installations of the subsea production systems.

The pipelay vessel, Solitaire, completed the laying at depths of up to 1,700 meters at an average rate of 4.6 km per day.

Project director Vincent Reboul Salze said the East Mediterranean in the spring had proven to be "a favorable environment" for the pipelaying.

The installation of the three sets of risers that will connect the three producing wells to the FPSO and then to the pipeline is expected to start in the fourth quarter and be completed in Q1 2021.

The overall physical progress of the Karish development project now stands at around 80% complete, Energean said.

First gas

First gas from Energean's fields offshore Israel could slip into the second half of 2021, according to a new timetable released June 8 for work on the FPSO.

It said that the work program on the FPSO was contingent on the evolution of the global coronavirus pandemic and decisions of the Singapore authorities.

Work on the FPSO in Singapore is expected to take approximately 10 months, while the FPSO tow to the Karish field and subsequent mooring, hook-up and commissioning of the FPSO is expected to take up to four months.

A 14-month work program would see first gas in around August 2021.

Energean has firm sales agreements for 5.6 Bcm/year of gas with Israeli buyers and hopes to secure more offtake deals to be able to fully utilize the FPSO's 8 Bcm/year capacity.

All of Energean's sales agreements from the Karish field contain take-or-pay and floor pricing provisions.

This, the company said, "reduces the risks on Energean's cash flow generation profile on the Karish project and limits Energean's exposure to global commodity price fluctuations."