Unless the Israeli government approves the Tzemach Committee recommendations on natural gas exports, no decisions will be taken about developing any gas fields, said Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) CEO Charles Davidson at a press conference in London yesterday. He said that the recommendation “needs to be finalized by the government. It’s a critical component. We can’t make any decisions about how to go forward on any of these projects until we know what is the appropriate level of exports that are going to be allowed.”
Davison said, "It has a fair balance between reserving resources for the state of Israel and also allowing monetization of gas resources. We have to understand what is going to be allowed for exports out of the region. There is a lot of work to be done."
In August, the Tzemach Committee, chaired by Ministry of Energy and Water director general Shaul Tzemach, advised allowing the export of up to 500 billion cubic meters (18 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. It also advised that half of any field containing more than 200 billion cubic meters should be reserved for domestic use.
Davison said that Noble Energy and its partners have discovered about 35 trillion cubic feet of gas resources in Eastern Mediterranean. Noble Energy owns 39.66% of Leviathan and 36% of Tamar, Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) owns 45.34% of Leviathan and 31.35% of Tamar through subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L). Their partners Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) 28.7% of Tamar and Alon Natural Gas Exploration Ltd. (TASE: ALGS) owns 4%, and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) owns 15% of Leviathan. Noble Energy and Delek also own 70% and 30%, respectively, of Cyprus's Block 12, located near Leviathan.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 27, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012