NBL Noble Energy Inc

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.

Yuval Steinitz, Israel's minister of national infrastructure, energy and water resources, said he had met senior executives of more than 20 energy companies, including Eni SpA, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Hess Corp., to gauge interest in further exploring offshore Israel.

"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 he estimated 350 trillion to 530 trillion cubic feet of gas, or at least 60 billion barrels of oil equivalent, in the whole of the eastern Mediterranean basin, which includes Egyptian, Cypriot and Israeli waters. That level of gas would be enough to supply the needs of Egypt, Israel and Turkey for years and leave enough gas to export to Europe, Mr. Steinitz said.

Israel's invitation to oil companies comes after Eni said in August that it had made the largest-ever Mediterranean Sea gas discovery about 80 miles off the coast of Egypt, estimated at about 30 trillion cubic feet. Israel has been trying to bring smaller offshore natural-gas fields online, a process that is moving forward now after more than a year of political wrangling.

Israel's energy ministry estimates the two fields combined hold at least 25 trillion cubic feet of gas.

However, Israel's economy minister Aryeh Deri resigned this month, allowing the government to move ahead with a framework to develop the fields. Mr. Deri had refused to waive Israeli antitrust rules for the two main stakeholders, U.S.-based Noble Energy Inc. and its Israeli partner, Delek Group Ltd., who had been determined to hold a monopoly.

Ahead of the Eni discovery in Egyptian waters, Noble and Delek had been negotiating long-term contracts to sell gas from the Israeli fields to companies in Egypt, but the deals were delayed by bureaucratic hurdles in Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month he would take over the economy minister's portfolio to get the gas fields to production faster. The parliament, known as the Knesset, passed the deal in September on the recommendation of the Israeli cabinet.

Mr. Steinitz said on Tuesday the framework on the two fields would be signed off by the prime minister this year and that exploration for more fields could begin thereafter.

Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2015 09:45 ET (14:45 GMT)

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