Israel has reportedly approved gas exports from the Tamar offshore field to Egypt.
According to Israeli media, the approval has been signed by the country’s energy minister Yuval Steinitz, following an application by the Tamar partners to sell gas to Egypt’s Dolphinus Group.
The Tamar field, Israel’s second largest offshore gas field, is operated by Noble Energy, with Delek Group as a partner.
The partnership signed a deal with Dolphinus Group in March 2015. The contract provides that the Tamar partners will supply the buyer a minimum cumulative volume of 5 BCM (billion cubic meters) for the first 3 years of the contract, subject to the daily limit of up to 250,000 MMBtu per day and to supply limitations of Israel Gas Lines Ltd. (IGL). The price agreed in March was set at $1.2 billion, but according to reports from Israel, the value is now somewhere around $1.3 billion.
Despite the approval from the government, in order for the contract to be executed, other preconditions need to be met as well.
A transport agreement needs to be signed between the Tamar Partners and IGL; the deal requires obtaining of the regulatory approvals from the authorities in Egypt, and a transporting agreement between the buyer and EMG, enabling the gas to be piped to Egypt via the EMG pipeline, needs to be reached.
Offshore Energy Today Staff