Israel is preparing to tender 24 offshore exploration blocks as it looks to bolster its oil and gas industry after a four-year lull sparked by regulatory uncertainty and stock-price volatility. Continue Reading
Israel Offshore Rig The Israeli Energy Ministry has said that the supergiant Leviathan offshore gas field may be 20 percent smaller than its developers, US-based Noble Energy and Israeli partner Continue Reading
The Israeli government approves Noble’s proposed development plan for the offshore Leviathan field. Following the implementation of measures to address concerns over control of Israel’s natural gas market, the Israeli Continue Reading
Partners aiming to exploit the rich natural gas reserves offshore Israel said they would take the steps needed for rapid development after a government nod. The Israeli Cabinet during the Continue Reading
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday approved an amended deal to develop the country’s natural-gas fields after months of legal wrangling that has stunted the growth of the domestic Continue Reading
Noble Leviathan Israeli media have reported that U.S.-based Noble Energy and Israeli partner Delek Group have reached a preliminary deal with the Israeli government that would allow them to move Continue Reading
Israel and Egypt are close to a compromise that would sweep away a major obstacle to a multibillion-dollar natural gas deal. (Bloomberg) – Israel and Egypt are close to a Continue Reading
It has been six years since the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara ship that was aiming to reach the Gaza coast in May 2010. In the wake of the Continue Reading
An updated assessment of the Leviathan offshore gas field puts the Israeli offshore field’s estimated resources at 16.6 trillion cubic feet (about 453 billion cubic meters), 24% lower than a Continue Reading
Though a game-changing gas discovery for Israel and for the discoverer, Texas-based Noble Energy, the giant Leviathan offshore gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean has been one bureaucratic headache after Continue Reading
Israel’s energy minister said on Tuesday he believes recent turmoil in the country’s natural gas sector will be resolved within a couple of months, before too much damage is done. Continue Reading
Israel’s High Court blocked the government’s controversial proposal to regulate the natural gas industry, in a dramatic ruling that complicates plans to develop the country’s largest field and conclude export Continue Reading
Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday ruled against a landmark deal to develop and export the country’s offshore gas reserves, a setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who campaigned for it. Continue Reading
The EU is interested in receiving natural gas from Israel, according to Israel’s energy ministry, with ministry sources saying Thursday that preliminary talks on future sales of gas are underway. Continue Reading
Dutch oil trader Trafigura confirmed it delivered a cargo of crude oil sourced from U.S. basins to Israeli refineries in an early start for U.S. oil deliveries. Trading company Vitol, Continue Reading
The partners controlling the Leviathan gas field off the Israeli coast announced they signed a deal for deliveries to a local electricity producer. Israeli electric company Edeltech Ltd. agreed to Continue Reading
Dec 24 Israel’s government has given the go ahead to begin exporting natural gas to Egypt, signalling a potential improvement in relations between two countries which have been at loggerheads Continue Reading
Israeli forces on Friday shot and killed three Palestinians and wounded at least 78 others in clashes that raged across the occupied Palestinian territories for a second straight day, according Continue Reading
Companies working in the Israel energy sector said they’re still pursing commercial deals in Egypt despite reports of a breakdown in talks. Egyptian media outlet Ahram Online reported during the Continue Reading
Israel’s Foreign Ministry says the country will soon open an office at a renewable energy agency in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital – even though the two nations Continue Reading
Israel has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recruit the oil and gas talent it needs to exploit its natural gas resources and turn itself into an important oil and gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to import the skills and knowledge it needs to develop itself into an oil and gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean, according to speakers at this week’s Universal Oil and Gas Conference, which is being held in Tel Aviv. The country must take advantage of a global downturn in the upstream oil and gas industry in order to recruit the engineering specialists it needs to exploit the approximately 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas it found off its coast in 2009 and 2010 , as well the geological and drilling experts it requires as it searches for more hydrocarbons, delegates to UOG 2015 heard. Speaking about the challenges Israel […]
JERUSALEM—Israel is inviting international oil companies to further explore its offshore waters for natural gas, the country’s energy minister said on Tuesday, as the country tries to become an energy exporter for first time. “We believe that based on the geological data—from our own experts and global companies—that there is still the potential for new discoveries,” Mr. Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem. Israel, Egypt and other countries have pushed to turn the Mediterranean Sea into a natural-gas powerhouse as energy companies make new finds there. Shell’s head of gas Maarten Wetselaar declined to disclosed if the company had been in any talks with the Israeli government. “We are not in the gas business in Israel and have no immediate plans to explore or produce gas there,” Mr. Wetselaar said in an interview Tuesday. Representatives for Eni, Exxon and Hess didn’t respond immediately to requests for comment. Mr. Steinitz said […]
Noble Energy says it will make a final investment decision on two large gas fields in Israel in about a year’s time, a day after the country’s prime minister promised to fast-track the projects. Nov 2 (Reuters) – U.S. oil and gas producer Noble Energy Inc said on Monday it would make a final investment decision on two large gas fields in Israel in about a year’s time, a day after the country’s prime minister promised to fast-track the projects. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would take control of the economy ministry – after a minister who had been holding up the plan stepped down – and give final approval to a framework deal with Noble and Israel’s Delek Group . "Yesterday’s announcement from the Prime Minister’s office is a further indication of the commitment to moving forward with gas development," Noble’s Chief Executive David Stover […]
TEL AVIV—Israel’s economy minister resigned on Sunday, allowing the government to move ahead with stalled plans to develop two offshore gas fields after nearly a year of political wrangling. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would take over Aryeh Deri’s portfolio to push through a framework to develop the gas fields after the plan was ruled anticompetitive by the country’s regulator last year. “Today we are taking a major step toward advancing the supply of gas in the state of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “Natural gas will be the No. 1 growth engine in Israel in the coming years.” The Tamar and Leviathan fields were discovered in 2009 and 2010 , respectively, and are worth an estimated $25 billion in potential gas sales, according to analysts at U.K.-based Barclays Bank. Mr. Netanyahu said the gas from the two fields would lower energy costs for Israelis. The development plans would […]
Israeli energy company Delek Group wades into North Sea waters by taking on a stake in regional counterpart Ithaca Energy. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 9 (UPI) — Israeli energy company Delek Group said it was wading deeper into the international market by taking on stake on Ithaca Energy, which operates in the North Sea. "This is an important strategic step for Delek Group through expanding its operations and strengthening its position on the international market," Chief Executive Officer Asi Bartfeld said in a statement. "We intend to continue to take advantage of opportunities in the markets and to examine further strategic investments in international companies in the energy field." For a total consideration of $66 million, Delek said it was taking on a 20 percent stake in Ithaca in a deal that includes a potential for two seats on Ithaca’s board of directors. Ithaca’s […]
U.S. company with close ties to Israeli government confirms oil and gas discovery in contested Golan Heights region. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 9 (UPI) — Genie Energy, a company with headquarters in the United States, confirmed it made a major discovery of oil and natural gas in the Golan Heights. The New Jersey-based company said data from exploratory wells drilling into the area confirm what it said were "significant" quantities of oil and natural gas. "We remain optimistic given the results to date," Genie Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard Jonas said in a statement. "We are now working diligently to determine the production costs and total quantity of the resource." The company’s Israeli subsidiary, Afek Oil and Gas, drilled into a column of reserves about 1,150 feet thick, about 10 times larger than the global average. Genie said it lacks evidence to determine if […]
A massive oil reserve has been discovered in the Golan Heights by an Israeli energy company, regional news outlets reported Wednesday. The find by Afek Oil and Gas, confirmed to be 10 times larger than the average oil field worldwide, could boost Israel’s relatively young oil industry and meet domestic energy demands. “There is enormous excitement,” Yuval Bartov, the oil and gas chief geologist for Afek, told Channel 2 News, according to Globes . “It’s a fantastic feeling. We came here thinking maybe yes or maybe no and now things are really happening.” Israeli oil companies were searching for oil around the clock, with little success until the latest discovery. It was first announced last month , but the size of the find was only confirmed recently. Afek Oil and Gas is a subsidiary of American company Genie Energy. Since Israel’s founding, companies have drilled 530 exploratory wells in […]
Israeli energy company finds deep oil reservoir in the Golan Heights, considered occupied Syrian territory by much of the international community. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI JERUSALEM, Oct. 7 (UPI) — An Israeli oil and natural gas company estimates there may be enough reserves in the occupied Golan Heights to make the country self-sufficient in energy. Yuval Bartov, the chief geologist for Afek Oil and Gas, told Channel 2 News in Israel preliminary data show a column of oil found in the Golan Heights is about 10 times larger than the global average. "We are talking about significant quantities," he said. "The important thing is to know the oil is in the rock and that’s what we now know." The Israeli Ministry of Energy and Water Resources awarded a drilling permit to U.S.-Israeli company Genie Energy for territory in the southern Golan Heights in 2013. The company at the […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses attendees during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, October 1, 2015. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his annual United Nations address on Thursday to launch an all-out assault on the historic nuclear deal with Iran, warning that his country would never let the Islamic Republic join the nuclear weapons club. Speaking at the yearly gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu reiterated Israeli criticism of a deal between Iran and major world powers aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. He said that, once international sanctions are lifted, "unleashed and unmuzzled, Iran will go on the prowl." Israel, Netanyahu said, would never allow Iran "to break in, to sneak in, or to walk into the nuclear weapons club." Israel has repeatedly warned it is prepared to use military force to […]
Five years later, poor policymaking, political infighting and a battle between PM Netanyahu and the antitrust commissioner over a lack of competition mean Leviathan remains undeveloped. JERUSALEM, Oct 1 (Reuters) – When the Leviathan gas field was discovered off the coast of Israel in 2010, it was pitched as a game-changer — a vast energy reserve that would transform the economy and bolster public finances for years to come. Five years on, poor policymaking, political infighting and a battle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the antitrust commissioner over a lack of competition mean Leviathan remains undeveloped. Meanwhile, Egypt has made a larger discovery that could make it a more attractive investment. The case sends a worrying message to investors and may make them wary of the natural resources sector in Israel, which has struggled to diversify its economy much beyond technology. Instead of billions of dollars in exports […]
Yosef Abramowitz, the developer of the Ketura solar field. After struggling to grow citrus trees on a stretch of parched desert, Israel’s Kibbutz Ketura instead devoted the land to harvesting the country’s most abundant resource: sunshine. Yet as the kibbutzniks seek to expand their solar installations, the government is proving almost as formidable an obstacle as the scorched soil ever was. “Israel has the technology and plenty of sunshine, but the government is completely ignoring the renewables industry,” said Yosef Abramowitz, a solar energy advocate who helped found Arava Power Co., the developer of the Ketura field. With more than 300 days of sunshine per year and a world-class tech sector, Israel should be a hotbed of solar, but it has lagged behind places such as cloudy Germany and the rainy Netherlands. That’s because in recent years, geologists have discovered huge gas fields just off Israel’s coast, making the […]
Noble Energy wants full Israeli support for an agreement that would open up key gas basins in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock HOUSTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) — Parliamentary support for a framework agreement for Israeli oil and gas development is a welcome step, but full backing is needed, Noble Energy said. The Israel Antitrust Authority ruled that Israeli energy company Delek Group and its partners at Noble Energy, which has headquarters in Texas, control all of the gas reservoirs off the nation’s coast. A compromise deal from 2014 called on Noble and Delek to sell their stakes in the Karish and Tanin fields off the coast of Israel, which combine for an average 20.5 trillion cubic feet of reserves, in exchange for maintaining their holdings in Leviathan and Tamar, two of the largest gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea. On Monday, the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, […]
JERUSALEM—In early August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in front of 22 Democratic U.S. lawmakers. He closed the door and instructed an aide to clear his schedule for the afternoon. There was nothing more important, he told the members of Congress, than answering their questions on the Iranian nuclear deal, however long it took. For the next two hours, the prime minister worked the room, according to many of the lawmakers present. His props included a large white board on which he wrote their questions. At one point, he drew what he called a “nuclear gun” to underline his fears. Although Mr. Netanyahu didn’t explicitly tell them to vote against the deal, his feelings were clear. It would seriously jeopardize Israel’s security, he told them. “They weren’t twisting my arm but they were certainly trying to convince me,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat, one […]
A worker from the Israeli gas-drilling Tamar platform in July. Israeli officials expressed concern that the discovery of an extensive gas field off the coast of Egypt could upend Israeli development of its energy resources. The Italian energy company Eni E 0.92 % SpA on Sunday announced the discovery of the largest gas field in the Mediterranean, threatening a deal between the Israeli government and developers that was based on expectations of substantial gas exports to Egypt. That deal already was bogged down in disagreements about regulation, pricing and profit-sharing that have delayed the start of production. “The discovery of the Egyptian gas field is a painful reminder that while Israel has been asleep at the wheel and delaying final approval of the gas deal and additional exploration, the world is changing before our very eyes with implications for export possibilities,” Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said after Sunday’s […]
Israeli energy company Delek Group expecting forward momentum through future strategic investments. File Photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 31 (UPI) — After posting strong second-quarter results, the chief executive officer at Israeli energy company Delek said growth should continue through future investments. Delek, which operates in some of the largest natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea, said operating profit for the second quarter increased 69 percent to $69 million. Net income swung from a $152 million loss in the second quarter of 2014 to a $5.5 million gain, driven in large part from sales from the Tamar gas field off the Israeli coast. Members of the Israeli government moved in mid-August to clear the way for the full development of offshore natural gas reserves. The Israel Antitrust Authority had ruled that Delek Group and its partners at Noble Energy, which has headquarters in Texas, control […]
Photo Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, in 2014. Mr. Nadler has announced his support for the nuclear accord with Iran. Credit Andrew Burton/Getty Images WASHINGTON — The attacks on Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, since he announced his support for the nuclear accord with Iran have been so vicious that the National Jewish Democratic Council and the Anti-Defamation League both felt compelled this week to publicly condemn Jewish voices of hate. On the other side, three Jewish Democrats in the House who oppose the deal released a joint statement denouncing “ad hominem attacks and threats” against not only supporters like Mr. Nadler but also Jewish opponents, who have been accused of “dual loyalties” and treason. This August recess has not produced the kind of fiery town hall-style meetings that greeted lawmakers in 2009 before their vote on the Affordable Care Act, but in one small […]
The Tamar Israeli gas-drilling platform in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. TEL AVIV—Israel couldn’t believe its luck when huge natural-gas deposits were found in its waters five years ago. There was hopeful talk of cementing regional peace with pipelines to energy-hungry neighbors, and of plentiful gas fueling a new economic boom. Instead, what happened since then has spotlighted how unprepared Israel was to deal with newfound energy riches even as it prides itself on being a modern, investor friendly economy. Political feuding and bureaucratic infighting have delayed for years the development of the biggest gas field and now are threatening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile coalition government. No development work started so far on the Leviathan field, the largest in the Mediterranean and estimated to hold 22 trillion cubic feet of gas—enough to supply a country like Turkey for more than a decade. Amid uncertainty about […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu praises vote that would clear the way toward full exploitation of nation’s offshore natural gas reserves. File Photo by UPI Photo/Debbie Hill. JERUSALEM, Aug. 17 (UPI) — An Israeli decision to exploit offshore natural gas reserves is an important milestone for the nation’s economy, the country’s prime minister said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support after members of government cleared the way toward full development of offshore natural gas reserves. "We need to extract the gas from the sea," the prime minister said in a statement. "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." The Israel Antitrust Authority had ruled that Israeli energy company Delek Group and its partners at Noble Energy, which has headquarters in Texas, control all of the […]
Israel’s Cabinet on Aug. 16 approved a deal with a U.S.-Israel consortium that would move forward development of the huge Leviathan natural gas field off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, officials said, Reuters reported. The deal still needs the approval of Israel’s parliament. Leviathan, with estimated reserves of 622 billion cubic meters, is slated to begin production in 2018 or 2019 and is expected to supply billions of dollars of natural gas to Egypt and Jordan in addition to supplying Israel. Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses around the world. We use a unique, intel-based approach to analyze world affairs. Copyright © 2015 Stratfor Global Intelligence, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 221 West 6th Street Suite 400 – Austin, TX 78701, USA unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences | forward email
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Israel signed a deal to build a 4 billion shekel ($1.05 billion) thermo-solar power plant in the country’s south, aimed at boosting electricity production from renewable energy sources, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday. The 121 megawatt plant, which will also be able to store electricity, will be built by a consortium of Israel’s Shikun & Binui and Spain’s Abengoa in Ashalim in Israel’s southern Negev desert near another solar plant. The plant, to be built under a build, operate and transfer program, is expected to come online in the first half of 2018, the ministry said. Both plants – along with a planned photovoltaic power plant nearby – will provide 2 percent of total electricity production in Israel, which has a target of 10 percent coming from renewable sources by 2020. They will be financed by the European Investment Bank and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp. The […]
Tags: AIR STRIKES | Benjamin Netanyahu | Iran | Iran Nuclear Deal | Israel An Israeli F-16 fighter jet takes off at Ramon air base in southern Israel during routine training, October 21, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen The day after a nuclear deal with Iran was announced, the sun rose high above Jerusalem’s shimmering hills just as it does every July, as if the ancient land shrugged off two decades of apocalyptic warnings from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and decided to go about its usual routine. Israeli officials across the political landscape decried the “very bad deal,” as Netanyahu termed the agreement, which the United States and five world powers hope will curb Iran’s weaponization of its nuclear program. But no one, not even the prime minister, rattled the sabers of war. “An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites is no longer a relevant scenario,” wrote Amos Harel, military […]
Photo The British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel delivered joint statements on Iran in Jerusalem on Thursday. Credit Pool photo by Debbie Hill JERUSALEM — Israeli commentators have described this week’s Iran nuclear deal as a “personal failure,” a “stinging failure,” and a “colossal failure” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . Yair Lapid, a rival who heads an opposition faction in Israel ’s Parliament, called it “the greatest failure in foreign policy of any Israeli prime minister since the state’s establishment” and demanded his ouster. Mr. Netanyahu has framed his career over two decades around Iran , and battered Israel ’s critical alliance with the United States by alienating President Obama with his aggressive approach. Since the deal was announced, he has seemed lifeless, gray, even in deep despair during public appearances this week, analysts said. Yet there is little indication Mr. […]
TARABIN, Israel—The residents of this village in the Negev desert have everything they need to build a solar-panel field: construction permits and loans, a contract with a company to build the field, and plenty of sun. But Tarabin village doesn’t yet have permission from the government to sell its solar power to the national grid—a crucial prerequisite for making the project economical. Dozens of communities across Israel are in the same situation, and executives and backers of the solar industry here are blaming an unlikely culprit: natural gas. Two big offshore gas finds in 2009 and 2010 shifted priorities and resources away from solar projects, they say. Shortly after, the government stopped approving the hookup of new solar projects to the grid. That has left villages like Tarabin waiting. It has also devastated the small, once-promising solar-power industry here. The proposed site for the field outside of town here […]
A framework for Israel’s gas sector, released Tuesday, would allow neighboring countries to receive offshore gas within 2-3 years by allowing exports from Tamar prior to the Leviathan field coming on line in 2019. Egypt and Jordan need gas and it was in Israel’s strategic interest to supply them, energy and water minister Yuval Steinitz told reporters. Last year the Tamar consortium — Delek Drilling, Noble Energy, Avner Oil and Gas, Isramco and Alon Gas Exploration — signed a letter of intent with Spain’s Union Fenosa for the sale of 4.5 Bcm annually for 15 years for its SEGAS LNG plant at Damietta, Egypt. Israeli energy industry sources said talks have resumed in recent weeks about signing a final agreement with Union Fenosa. One of the key elements of the framework, designed to end an impasse that has held up development of the huge field, is to foster competition […]
The Israeli government has declared development of natural gas to be an issue of national security in a move aimed at easing an antitrust logjam in place since last December. The security cabinet voted unanimously on June 25 to take administrative steps sidestepping a review by Antitrust Commissioner David Gilo into whether holdings in large gas fields offshore Israel by Delek Group and Noble Energy Inc. constitute a “restrictive agreement” under Israeli law. Gilo’s study stymied gas development, most importantly of giant, deepwater Leviathan field. Allocation of future Leviathan supply between domestic and export markets is one of several controversies related to offshore gas development in Israel ( OGJ Online, Feb. 20, 2015 ). The security cabinet move allows the government to consider a compromise agreement under which Delek and Avner Oil Exploration, a subsidiary, would sell their interests in producing Tamar gas field within 6 years as well […]
WASHINGTON—Israel’s point man on Iran pressed the Obama administration this week to extend nuclear negotiations with Tehran beyond the June 30 deadline, rather than signing a deal his government fears could prove fatal to Israel’s long-term security. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, in an interview on Friday, said his government believes parameters of a deal that global powers reached with Iran in April provided numerous loopholes for Tehran to exploit if it seeks to become a nuclear power. Mr. Steinitz, a close aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, specifically cited terms that allow Iran to continue to conduct some research and development on more advanced centrifuge machines, which are used to produce nuclear fuel. He also said there aren’t enough guarantees in the proposed agreement to ensure Iran will allow international inspectors real-time access to suspect nuclear and military sites. Mr. Steinitz added the agreement must be strengthened to […]
GAZA Israel retaliated on Thursday for rockets fired at it from Gaza with bombing raids against three militant training camps, and a radical group sympathetic with Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Israel. Witnesses and medics said the predawn attacks on two camps belonging to Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip, and to the smaller Palestinian group Islamic Jihad caused some damage but no casualties. Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement that Israel held Hamas responsible for the rocket attacks from Gaza "even if those doing the shooting are rogue gangs from global jihadi groups trying to challenge Hamas by shooting at us". The rockets aimed at the Israeli city of Ashkelon and town of Netivot on Wednesday night were the second such attacks in the past week. They broke a hiatus in cross-border fire since a 50-day Israeli war with Hamas ended with […]
ENLARGE Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in the parliament in Jerusalem earlier this month during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Photo: jim hollander/European Pressphoto Agency Israeli officials criticized the Obama administration last week when they thought the U.S. was about to support a United Nations conference on nuclear weapons in the Middle East—with or without Israel’s participation or consent. But by Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Secretary of State John Kerry and praised the White House for instead blocking the proposed meeting, which might have pressured Israel to disclose its presumed nuclear-arms program. “The United States kept its commitment to Israel by preventing a Middle East resolution that would single out Israel and ignore its security interests,” said a senior Israeli official briefed on the call, which was confirmed by U.S. officials. Israel’s diplomatic U-turn over the weekend shined a […]
Israeli government gives support to 2014 agreement to ship offshore natural gas to Jordan. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock TEL AVIV, Israel, April 7 (UPI) — A 2014 agreement to ship natural gas from the Tamar field off the coast of Israel to Jordan was backed by the Israeli government, an operator said Tuesday. Jordanian companies Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine secured a total gross quantity of 66 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the Tamar field, located off the Israeli coast, last year. "It should be noted that this agreement includes a number of other prerequisites, which are mainly other regulatory approvals by relevant bodies in Israel and Jordan," the company added. Jordan in the past has struggled to find a reliable source of natural gas in part because of downstream problems in Egypt. The partners managing Tamar estimate the field holds as much as 10 trillion […]
