Netanya

Cyprus media reported on Thursday that based on the revised agreement reached between the Ministry of Energy and the Noble - Shell - Delek consortium 57.1 percent of net revenues from the Aphrodite gas field will be received by the Republic of Cyprus and 42.9 percent by the firms developing the Block 12 reservoir.

Cyprus struck a preliminary agreement with Noble, Shell and Delek for the allocation of revenues from the utilization of the Aphrodite deposit and the transfer of natural gas by underwater pipeline to the Idku LNG terminal in Egypt.

Cyprus's energy minister says the country will renegotiate the financial terms of its contract with a consortium on exploiting a gas field off its southern shore.

Georgios Lakkotrypis told reporters on Tuesday that the consortium made up of Texas-based Noble Energy, Israel's Delek and Royal Dutch Shell wants to renegotiate the contract on the Aphrodite gas field.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is looking to bring natural gas from Israel and Cyprus to market, a step that could help turn the Mediterranean region into a major gas-producing hub.

According to sources, Shell is in talks to buy natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan field and combine it with output from Cyprus’ Aphrodite field – in which has a 35% stake – and pump it to an LNG plant in Egypt.

Greek oil producer Energean has exceeded its target for gas sales contracts needed before it goes ahead with plans to tap two gas fields off Israel's coast, market sources said on Wednesday. Energean bought the Karish and Tanin fields, located in deep waters around 100 kilometers off Israel's coast, last August for $148 million from US-Israeli partners Delek Group and Noble Energy.

Greece's Energean said on Sunday it signed contracts to supply up to 23 billion cubic meters of natural gas to private Israeli power stations from the Tanin and Karish gas fields off the coast 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.

The main Israeli partners developing the large Leviathan natural gas site said on Nov. 27 they signed commitment letters with HSBC and J.P. Morgan for up to $1.75 billion (1.65 billion pounds) of financing.

Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration said the funds would go towards the A1 development stage of the project.

Noble Energy warned of the risk of a delay to the development of the Leviathan natural gas field off Israel's coast after Israel's Supreme Court blocked a crucial provision of a plan to develop the site.

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.