By Sara Toth Stub
Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
JERUSALEM--Partners in Israel's large offshore Tamar natural gas
field Wedneday signed their second supply deal this week with
private power producers.
The Tamar field will supply 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas to
two private power companies over 15 years, likely worth $1 billion,
said Avner Oil and Gas Exploration Ltd., a subsidiary of
conglomerate Delek Group Ltd. (DLEKG.TV) and holder of a 15.6%
stake in Tamar.
The companies that will buy the gas are Ramat Gabriel Ltd. and
Alon Tabor Ltd., which are both building cogeneration plants with
55-megawatt capacities to supply power to factories. Both are both
partly controlled by Delek Group.
This follows a $750 million deal signed Sunday in which the
Tamar field will supply 3.3 billion cubic meters of gas over 15
years to Independent Power Production, which is fully owned by
Delek Group and powers a water desalinization plant in southern
Israel. The deals are subject to approval of Israel's antitrust
authorities.
Although the Tamar partners didn't disclose a price for the deal
signed with the two power producers Wednesday, the $1 billion
figure is based on the amount that Independent Power Production
will pay according to its agreement.
Other stakeholders in Tamar include U.S. -based Noble Energy
Inc. (NBL), which controls 36%; Delek Drilling, also a Delek Group
subsidiary, that holds 15.6%; and Isramco Negev 2 Ltd. Partnership,
which owns 28.8%.
The field, discovered in 2009 and estimated to contain about 9
trillion cubic feet of gas, began production in March and has
signed supply deals with other Israeli corporations, including the
state-owned Israel Electric Co., which has committed to buying $15
billion in gas. The partners in the field also recently signed a
deal to supply Jordan with $500 million worth of gas in Israel's
first energy export deal.
The Tamar field along with the larger Leviathan field have
raised hopes Israel will gain more energy security as well as boost
its state coffers with taxes and other fees from gas exports in
coming decades.
Write to Sara Toth Stub at realtimedesklondon@dowjones.com
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