Delek, Noble sell Two Small Israeli Gas Fields

Israel's Delek Group and Texas-based Noble Energy (NBL) moved forward with plans to sell off two small natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean with Delek purchasing the full rights to sell the fields to a new buyer.

Under the deal, Delek paid $67 million for the rights to sell Noble's 47 percent in the undeveloped Karish and Tanin fields, which together contain an estimated 3 trillion cubic feet of gas.

According to a draft Israeli government plan meant to open the gas sector to competition, Delek will have 14 months to sell Karish and Tanin to a new group.

Delek said the deal with Noble is dependent on the government plan winning final approval, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

 (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Tova Cohen)