Israeli parliament approves gas field development plans
Israel’s parliament yesterday approved plans to develop three offshore natural gas fields. In a tight vote, parliament gave its blessing to get the large Leviathan gas field and two smaller ones to be developed by a consortium led by Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group. However, further regulatory hurdles lie in wait before development can get underway.
At 22trn cu ft, Leviathan was initially planned to begin production in 2018 with most of the gas earmarked for exports, but that date now looks optimistic.
Noble in a statement urged Israel’s government to implement the deal as quickly as possible. “After final approval we can complete the required export contracts, rebuild the work teams … and raise the external financing needed,” it said.