Netanyahu Announces Major Offshore Gas Deal

Local Editor

"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday announced a major agreement between his government and a consortium including US firm Noble Energy on natural gas production in the Mediterranean Sea.

In a televised statement, Netanyahu indicated that "the agreement will bring in hundreds of billions of shekels [one shekel equals $0.26]" to "Israeli" settlers over the coming years.

Bibi added that he "bring this agreement to the cabinet on Sunday. I'm sure it will pass by a large majority of votes."

"Israel" reached an agreement with the companies that are developing its offshore natural gas fields on Wednesday. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that the deal, which is about gas regulatory policy, will be submitted to the cabinet for approval on Sunday.

Texas-based Noble Energy and the "Israeli" Delek Group have partnered as the main developers of Israel's two main gas fields, Tamar and Leviathan. They also own two smaller reserves discovered recently.

Differences about ownership and pricing of the offshore gas fields have been ongoing since December, when "Israel's" antitrust commissioner threatened to designate the partnership between Delek Group and Noble Energy Inc. a monopoly.

This would have forced them to sell their shares of the fields. David Gilo, "Israel's" former antitrust commissioner, resigned in May when Prime Minister Netanyahu's government refused to end the monopoly of gas extraction from the Mediterranean Sea.

According to a text message from Steinitz's office, the two sides reached an agreement about pricing and agreed on milestones for the development of Leviathan, the largest of the gas fields.

Minister Steinitz said that the deal will "allow for the development of "Israel's" oil and gas reserves after a delay of several years."

However, these differences have been holding up production. This delay has upset investors and complicated export deals.

In June, the entity's Security Cabinet determined that the gas deal should be considered a matter of security as "Israel" plans to export natural gas to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Noble has struck preliminary agreements with all three.

Liberal lawmakers and environmentalists accused Netanyahu of caving to a monopoly.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team