Haifa University has bestowed geologist and Co-founder of Ratio Energy, Eitan Aizenberg with an honorary doctorate for his contribution and groundbreaking work in the field of geology, which has made a valuable contribution to the State of Israel.
In 1992, together with the Yeshayahu (Shaike) Landau, David Rotlevy and the Tzafriri families, he established Ratio Oil Exploration energy partnership (now Ratio Energies), in which he has served ever since as Senior Vice President of Exploration and Production.
It was Aizenberg who discerned the economic potential of the Leviathan geological formation and identified within it two prospects, the upper of which is today known as Leviathan Discovery and the other as the Deep Leviathan Prospect, which has not yet been drilled. The Leviathan field contains about 22 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas and to this day is considered the largest gas field in the Mediterranean. Aizenberg has since been known in the industry as the ‘Father of Leviathan’.
Production from the Leviathan field provides natural gas to the Israeli economy as well as to Egypt and Jordan. The Leviathan field makes a huge contribution to the Israeli economy while also, and no less importantly, contributing enormously to reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Israel and in neighboring countries, as well as to the geopolitical position of the State of Israel in the Middle East.
Together with his partners, the Ratio-Cofounder has also been active in the development of oil and gas exploration activity beyond Israel’s borders through Ratio Petroleum which has operated and continues to operate in seven different countries around the world including Guyana, where it holds 25% working interest in the Kaieteur Block.
GUYANA INTEREST
Back in 2012, Aizenberg had said his company was attracted to the Guyana basin, well before ExxonMobil landed a major discovery in the Stabroek Block.
In fact, Aizenberg had said he knew some three years before Exxon found oil that the Guyana basin was unquestionably, well-endowed given his years of experience in operating in the Israeli basin and other parts of the world.
Aizenberg said his early investigations of the Guyana-Suriname Basin showed that exploration efforts had only produced numerous dry wells with zero discoveries. Despite this high risk, Aizenberg said he felt that Guyana’s offshore geology in the deepwater held many similarities to that of offshore Israel deep water hence the move was made to apply for the Kaieteur Block in 2012 which was subsequently approved.
The geologist shared, “…One of the key elements in the quest for oil is finding a good reservoir, which in our case, is usually a sandy layer in the sub-surface which can carry and accumulate the oil reserves.”
He added, “As a first stage in my study, I looked for the source of these sands. In the East Mediterranean, we have the Crystalline rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, and in Guyana we have the Guiana Shield: both excellent sources for sands then comes the mechanism of transporting these sands from their source to the sink (deep offshore).”
Aizenberg said that the equivalent of the ancient Nile River is the Old Berbice River which both carried the sands for a long journey of several hundred kilometers. He said that the critical time of the old Nile happened about 6-25 million years ago, while for offshore Guyana, the old Berbice river was active about 65-100 million years ago, which simply indicates, different times but the same mechanism.
Considering the aforementioned, Aizenberg said that Guyana was without a doubt, a sure investment destination. The geology spoke for itself, Aizenberg had stated confidently.
The Kaieteur Block is operated by ExxonMobil’s affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) with partners Ratio Guyana Limited, Cataleya Energy Limited and Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd.
An application is currently before Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the pursuit of a 12- well campaign in the offshore concession.
