Israel Approves Deal to Develop Gas Fields

The Israeli cabinet On Sunday approved the outline to increase the quantity of natural gas produced at the Tamar natural gas field and develop the Leviathan, Karish and Tanin natural gas fields, Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“Gas resources in our region will be developed, unfortunately, either way, and we need to see to it that our resources work at full capacity,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We need to extract the gas from the sea. This decision is an important milestone. We are overcoming the obstacles step by step.  This process will not be stopped. The gas will be extracted from the bottom of the sea and will reach Israeli citizens, Israeli industry and the Israeli economy - for the benefit of the citizens of Israel.”

He said that every objective test proves that the outline is a significant improvement over the existing situation.

The government has been negotiating the framework with Noble Energy Inc. and Israel’s Delek Group Ltd., owners of Tamar and Leviathan gas fields. 

As per the latest plan Nobel and Delek have to cut stake in Tamar field in order to keep their stake in Leviathan field.

The plan will not need to be passed by Israel’s legislature, the Knesset, where it will likely face opposition from some lawmakers.