Gas Output to Resume at Israel's Leviathan After Brief Halt
Production at Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas field will resume in the coming hours after an emergency shutdown on Saturday, the project's operator Noble Energy said [on Saturday].The platform's flare system had been activated to burn off excess gas, generating a flame visible from shore, in what Israel's Energy Ministry called an "emergency closure."Noble initially referred to it as an "operational event" but updated later it had been a false alarm caused by a gas…
Delek Drilling to Spin Off Tamar Stake
Israel's Delek Drilling is looking to spin off its remaining 22 percent stake in the offshore Tamar gas field in 2019, the company's chief executive said on Monday.Last year Delek spun off an initial 9.25 percent of Tamar into a new company in Tel Aviv called Tamar Petroleum. It said at the time it expected to get $980 million for the sale.CEO Yossi Abu said Delek Drilling is now focusing abroad, including the Euronext market, since the local market is already saturated for Tamar."We are looking to duplicate what we did with Tamar Petroleum but in the international market.
Noble Energy Cashes Out of Tamar Petroleum After Egypt Gas Deal
Texas-based Noble Energy sold its 43.5 percent stake in Israel's Tamar Petroleum after announcing last week that it would help finance a gas export deal with Egypt, the Israeli business daily The Marker reported on Wednesday.Noble's sale of 40 million Tamar shares, at 15.50 shekels ($4.26) each, took place on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, The Marker said in the unsourced report.A Noble representative in Israel declined to comment.Tamar shares were up 2.1 percent at 16.39 shekels in midday trade.On Sept.
Israeli, Egyptian Partners Buy into Pipeline to Allow Gas Deal
Israeli and Egyptian partners have agreed to purchase 39 percent of the shares in the EMG pipeline for $518 million, a deal that will enable natural gas exports from Israel to Egypt to begin as early as the start of 2019, the companies said on Thursday.Under the deal, Israel's Delek Drilling and Texas-based Noble Energy who together have been developing Israeli gas fields, will each pay $185 million, while the Egyptian East Gas Co will pay $148 million for the stake in EMG, whose pipeline runs between the two countries.The deal also includes EMG agreeing to end arbitration with Egypt and
Noble Energy Profit Beats Estimates
U.S. oil and gas producer Noble Energy Inc reported adjusted quarterly profit on Tuesday that easily beat analyst estimates due to cost cuts and higher crude prices, sending shares surging more than 7 percent in morning trading. The results came as Noble's U.S. shale oil production jumped in the fourth quarter through Dec. 31, reflecting the greater attention the industry is giving to improving profit and output. Houston-based Noble plans to spend $2.8 billion each year through 2020, about 6 percent more than it spent in 2017. Much of that will go towards projects in its red-hot U.S.
Greece Attracts Interest for Offshore Oil & Gas Tenders
Tenders for offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation west and south of Greece have attracted "strong interest" from companies exploring in the Mediterranean, the head of Greece's oil and gas resources management company said on Wednesday. Greece launched the tenders after expressions of interest by a consortium of Exxon Mobil, Total and Hellenic Petroleum for two sites off the island of Crete and by Greece's Energean for a block in the Ionian Sea. Offers must be submitted to the Hellenic Hydrocarbons Resources Management (HHRM) company.
Israel's Delek Group Posts Record Q3 Profit
Israeli energy conglomerate Delek Group reported a record profit in the third quarter boosted by the sale of a stake in the Tamar natural gas field. Delek said on Wednesday it earned 1.02 billion shekels ($291 million) for the quarter, up from 85 million a year earlier. Delek sold a 9.25 percent stake in the Tamar project, which alone resulted in a profit of 873 million shekels. Delek, through its subsidiary Delek Drilling, still has a 22 percent share of the Tamar field, which it said it has committed to sell off by the end of 2021.
Israel's Delek Drilling, Avner Oil to merge
Israeli conglomerate Delek Group's gas and oil exploration units, Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, approved a merger aimed at reducing costs and attracting new investors. Delek Drilling said on Sunday that shareholders of both companies approved the merger, which will see all assets and liabilities of Avner transferred to Delek Drilling and Avner will be dissolved. The companies in April began the merger process. Delek Group directly holds 6.6 percent of Delek Drilling and 8.9 percent of Avner, while its Delek Energy unit owns 63 percent of Delek Drilling and 47 percent of Avner.
Leviathan Partners to Start Drilling in Q1 2017
The Leviathan reservoir partners announced on Sunday their plans to begin drilling a new well in the basin during the first quarter of next year, reports The Jerusalem Post. The partners announced today that work will commence in the first quarter of 2017 and a budget of $77 million has been allocated for the drilling. The first stage of the Leviathan drilling will begin immediately after completion of the drilling for the Tamar 8 gas field. The Leviathan partners are Noble Energy Inc.(39.66%) Delek Group Ltd.
Energean to Buy Two Israeli Gas Fields
The partners in Israeli offshore gas fields Tamar and Leviathan have agreed to sell their rights in two smaller fields to Ocean Energean Oil and Gas Ltd for $148.5 million to comply with a government requirement. Delek Group, which has controlling interests in several gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, is being forced by the government to sell off some assets in an effort to open the sector to competition. Energean will buy Texas-based Noble Energy's 47.06 percent stake in the Tanin and Karish fields and the rest from Delek subsidiaries Avner Oil Exploration and Delek Drilling…
Cyprus Plans Third Offshore Licensing Round
Cyprus said on Tuesday it was planning a third offshore licensing round for hydrocarbons exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, moves which have triggered opposition from Turkey in the past. Cyprus discovered natural gas offshore in late 2011 in an area close to a sea boundary with Israel, where some of the world's largest natural gas discoveries have been made in the past decade. "Cabinet today decided to move ahead with a third licensing round ... it authorised the energy minister to submit the relevant proposals to implement the proposal the soonest possible…
Israeli Firms, Leviathan in Natural Gas Talks
The partners in Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas site said on Thursday 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. Last month, after years of political infighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a deal giving long-awaited approval for the development of Leviathan off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
Israel's Gas Prospects Dimmed but Not Extinguished
The discovery of vast deposits of natural gas off Egypt has muddied the waters for Israel's own gas industry, though Israel's head start in developing fields means markets' negative reaction may be overdone. Italian energy group Eni unexpectedly announced on Sunday it had found an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in the Zohr field off Egypt, the biggest discovery in the Mediterranean and the 20th largest worldwide. That almost overshadows the offshore finds Israel…
Netanyahu: Nothing Will Stop Israel's Natural Gas Development
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to further develop offshore natural gas fields after the country's anti-trust regulator said he would step down to protest against the lack of competition in the gas sector. Netanyahu is under pressure to strike a balance between moving ahead with plans to develop the large Leviathan gas field while creating competition, since Leviathan is owned by the same firms as the nearby Tamar site that started production in 2013. The fields are off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
Israeli Regulator Delays Monopoly Decision on Natural Gas Fields
Israel's competition regulator has delayed a decision on whether to declare the country's natural gas fields a monopoly for two months to allow time for an agreed solution to be reached. Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group own 85 percent of the large Leviathan gas site off the Mediterranean coast, and also control the nearby Tamar well -- a situation anti-trust Commissioner David Gilo in December said created a monopoly. The Anti-Trust Authority said on Tuesday it had given a deadline of April 23 for the sides to reach a deal before charging the companies with restraint of trade.
Edison Suspends Israeli Gas Field Talks
Italy's Edison is reconsidering buying two Israeli gas fields due to rising regulatory uncertainty and negotiations have already been suspended. Edison, owned by France's Total, was in talks to buy the offshore Tanin and Karish gas fields from a consortium comprised of U.S. explorer Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group. The U.S.-Israeli consortium developing the Leviathan gas field off Israel's coast was told to sell the smaller fields in 2013 in order to avoid being branded a cartel by the antitrust regulator. The two fields combined are estimated to hold 70 billion cubic metres of gas.
Israeli Gas Row Could Require Arbitration
U.S.-Israeli group controls Tamar and Leviathan fields; antitrust authority says the group may be a monopoly. The group that controls two large gas fields off Israel's shores could seek international arbitration to defend its assets, it said on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli regulator raised the prospect of it being stripped of some of its holdings. The U.S.-Israeli consortium said it had been blindsided by the announcement from Israel's antitrust regulator that it might be deemed a monopoly over its control of the newfound Leviathan and Tamar gas fields.
Regulator Opposes Noble, Delek Control of Israeli Field
Israel's antitrust regulator has recommended breaking up what it says is excessive control of key gas reserves by Noble Energy and conglomerate Delek Group, who together hold 85 percent of the country's giant Leviathan field. Competition authorities had initially rubber stamped the acquisition of Leviathan, provided Delek and Noble sold stakes in two smaller gas sites. The turnaround rattled investors and sent Israel's oil and gas stocks tumbling as much as 20 percent on Tuesday.
Firms Developing Cyprus Gas Field Raise Reserve Estimate
The reserve estimate for the Aphrodite natural gas field offshore Cyprus has been raised by 12 percent, and most of the gas is likely to be exported, Israeli firms involved in the project said. The new estimate given for the natural gas field is 4.54 trillion cubic feet (tcf). The estimate for condensate, a liquid byproduct of natural gas, was also raised to 9 million barrels from a previous estimate of 8.1 million, two Israeli firms said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
UFG to Drop Egypt Lawsuit if Israel Import Deal Cleared
Spain's Union Fenosa Gas (UFG) may drop a lawsuit against Egypt if it approves a deal for the company to import Israeli gas into its idle liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Egypt, a source close to the talks said. UFG, a joint venture largely owned by Spain's Gas Natural and Italy's Eni, had to suspend exports from its Egyptian plant at Damietta in 2012 when gas shortages led the government to divert supplies to its growing domestic needs. As a result, UFG launched…
