Economy of Israel

The Petroleum Council of Israel has approved the acquisition of 100 percent of the Karish and Tanin natural gas fields by Energean Oil & Gas from Delek Drilling and Avner Oil for $148 million.

Delek Drilling and Avner, both subsidiaries of Delek Group, were required by the government to sell off some assets in an effort to open the sector to competition.

Partners in Israel's Leviathan natural gas field could reach a final investment decision by the end of 2016 if government and regulatory approvals are granted as hoped, an official of the companies involved said.

That would enable the first gas from the field to reach markets by the last quarter of 2019, Bini Zomer, the Israel country manager for Noble Energy, said on Jan. 31.

The partners in the Leviathan natural gas find off Israel's Mediterranean coast signed a deal to sell about $1.3 billion worth of gas over 18 years to Edeltech Group and its Turkish partner for power plants they plan to build in Israel.

The partners in Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas site said on Jan. 7 they were in talks to supply gas to a number of Israeli companies.

In a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, units of Delek Group said the firms were private electricity producers and industrial companies but did not offer further details.

The Israeli government on Aug. 16 approved a major deal with a consortium including US firm Noble Energy on natural offshore gas production in the Mediterranean, the prime minister's office said.

Greek Cyprus announced on June 7 that offshore reserves in its Aphrodite gas field have been pronounced commercially exploitable, the first such development in four years of energy exploration.

Cyprus got a fillip over the weekend when partners exploiting a natural gas field off the island announced that the Aphrodite field is viable and could yield up to eight eight billion cubic meters (bcm) a year.
The news also included plans for the construction of a pipeline to Egypt, Reuters reports out of Jerusalem.

Turkey?s natural gas imports hit a record high in December, reaching above 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) for the first time ever.

Israel's Antitrust Authority said Dec. 23 that U.S. giant Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek would not be able to continue holding offshore gas field Leviathan over monopoly concerns.

The decision, pending a confirmation hearing, effectively dismantles the monopoly held by Noble and Delek over Leviathan and Israel's smaller offshore gas findings.