Israel clears Tamar gas exports to Egypt

Natural gas exports from Israel’s Tamar field to Egypt have reportedly been given a green light by the government. 

Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Israel could export 5 billion cubic meters of gas from the field owned by Noble Energy and Delek Group, Reuters reports.

Under the deal Tamar Partners signed with Dolphinus Energy in March, the partners will supply the buyer a minimum cumulative volume of 5 bcm for the first 3 years of the 7-year contract, subject to the daily limit of up to 250,000 MMBtu per day and to supply limitations of Israel Gas Lines.

Under the US$1.2 billion deal, Dolphinus Energy will be responsible for transporting the gas from Ashkelon to Egypt via the existing gas pipeline operated by the East Mediterranean Gas Company.

However, according to the Israeli media reports, EMG has refused to acknowledge any involvement in the deal, which could represent one of the obstacles to the exports of gas from the Tamar field to Egypt.

The deal also faces opposition from the Egyptian government that said it would stop talks with Israel to import Tamar gas after it was ordered to pay almost US$2 billion in fines as it stopped exporting gas to Israel in 2012.

Exports were halted after militant attacks on the pipeline delivering Egyptian gas to Israel.

LNG World News Staff