Tel Aviv – A huge natural gas field discovered offshore Egypt could have implications for Israel, which is looking to export its own deposits, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday.
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Partners Noble Energy and Delek Group, who in recent years discovered two sizeable fields in Israeli waters, have been negotiating long-term contracts to sell gas to customers in Egypt, but the deals have been held up by regulatory uncertainty in Israel.
Steinitz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has just a one-seat majority in parliament, have been struggling to get approved an agreement they reached with Noble and Delek that would help speed up development of most of the country’s offshore reserves.
“The giant gas field discovery in Egypt is a painful reminder that while Israel has been ‘sleep walking’ and delaying the final approval of the gas outline and holding up further exploration, the world is changing in front of our eyes, including the implications on export possibilities,” Steinitz said in a statement.
Italian energy group Eni said earlier on Sunday it had discovered the largest known gas field in the Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast, predicting the find could help meet Egypt’s gas needs for decades to come.
This whole change in the World is from Hashemite Boruch ho. The creator of the world is driving it all.
The dishonest regime of Netanyahu gets what it deserves.
The Israeli government under Netanyahu signed a contracet with the firms exploring and developing the Israeli gas fields. After the fields proved themselves, the Netanyahu crime syndicate welshed on that contracted and has been trying to force the developers to pay a larger percentage of their profits to the government. As a result the gas fields have as yet not been fully worked and have been producing minimally.
Now the Israeli government is seeing the repercussions of its dishonest behavior. Having sold only a fraction of what they would have as well as future commitments from buyers, they also lose future profits as well.
The world governments know Netanyahu is a liar and can’t be trusted. They don’t believe anything he says on Iran or anything else. Is there a reson to wonder why Israel is being beaten on the world stage?
one possible benefit for israel is that they will sell the gas here