Israel natgas shares jump as Noble ups find estimate

TEL AVIV Feb 11 (Reuters) - Shares in Israeli gas exploration companies soared on Wednesday morning, reacting to news from Noble Energy (NBL.N) that a natural gas find off Israel's coast is even larger than originally estimated.

U.S.-based Noble said on Tuesday the estimated gross mean resource potential of the The Tamar-1 drilling site, 90 km west of the northern port of Haifa, has been increased to 5 trillion cubic feet (142 billion cubic meters) of natural gas from 3 trillion cubic feet estimated last month.

Noble Energy owns 36 percent of the site while Israel's Isramco Negev (ISRAp.TA) owns 28.75 percent and Avner Oil Exploration (AVNRp.TA) and Delek Drilling (DEDRp.TA) each hold 15.625 percent. Dor Gas Exploration owns 4 percent.

Market reaction came Wednesday morning as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was closed for the election on Tuesday.

Isramco shares, which have soared 736 percent since the start of the year, were 7.2 percent higher on Wednesday morning compared with declines of over 2 percent in the broader market.

Delek Drilling was gaining 6.4 percent and Avner was up 4.8 percent. Conglomerate Delek Group DELKG.TA, the parent of Delek Drilling and Avner, was up 5.9 percent.

Noble said performance modelling indicates the well can achieve a production rate of over 150 million cubic feet per day.

Charles Davidson, Noble's chairman, president and chief executive, said in a statement: "The test results from the Tamar well confirm our initial analysis that the discovered reservoirs are very high quality. This discovery is clearly of a size for commercial development."

"The implications of this discovery to Israel, Noble Energy, and our partners cannot be overstated, and we all have committed significant resources to better understand its scale and scope," Davidson said.

The group said it plans to carry out production tests and additional verification drills in the next few months before making a final decision on whether to go ahead with an investment expected to reach as much as $2 billion. (Reporting by Tova Cohen; editing by Karen Foster)