Israel’s Delek sees double in second quarter profit

Israel’s energy company Delek Group more than doubled its profit in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year, owing to the exploration & production segment. 

In its financial report on Wednesday, the company said it had recorded net income for the second quarter of 2017 of 180 million shekels ($50 million), a 125% increase compared with 80 million shekels ($22.3 million) in the second quarter of 2016.

According to the report, the E&P segment contributed a record of 130 million shekels to the company’s net income in the second quarter, compared with 72 million shekels in the same period last year.

Group revenues for the second quarter in 2017 increased to 1.6 billion shekels from 1.4 billion shekels in the same period last year due to increased E&P activities and additional contribution from Delek Israel.

Asaf Bartfeld, President and CEO of Delek Group, commented: “The continued improvement in Delek Group’s profits in the first half of 2017 coincides with the implementation of our strategy of focusing on E&P operations as well as our expansion into international markets.

“In the past quarter, we completed the acquisition of control in the international energy company Ithaca, and we successfully concluded the sale of 6% of the Tamar license. This latter move will provide the group with gains of approximately NIS 800 million in the third quarter of the year.”

During the quarter, Delek produced 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas (~0.97 Bcf/d) from the Tamar project in the East Mediterranean, which is an increase of 9% compared with 2.3 billion cubic meters (~0.89 Bcf/d) in the same period last year.

In addition, Tamar sold 112 thousand barrels of condensate in the quarter, compared with 110 thousand barrels in the same period last year.

Offshore Energy Today Staff