Israel to sign 15-year natural gas supply deal with Jordan
Representatives from Delek Drilling, Nobel Energy currently in Jordan working out $45 million natural gas deal.
A dramatic deal is forming between the companies holding the drilling rights of the "Leviathan" gas field and Jordan. "Noble Energy" and "Delek Drilling" senior representatives are currently in Jordan ready to sign a $ 15 Billion deal to supply natural gas to Jordan.
The agreement, which will be the first selling deal from "Leviathan" reservoir, received the go-ahead from all sides, both in Israel and in Jordan. "Leviathan" reservoir is the largest to have been discovered in Israel's territorial waters and most of the gas found in it is indented for export.
Energy Minister Silvan Shalom said Wednesday that Israel will sign a deal to supply natural gas from its Leviathan field to Jordan for 15 years.
Earlier Texas-based Noble Energy signed a letter of intent to negotiate the supply of 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Jordan over 15 years, a partner in Israel's giant Leviathan field said on Wednesday.
The price of the gas, to be supplied to Jordan's state-owned National Electric Power Co, would be similar to the price reached in other export deals from Israel, said Delek Drilling , a subsidiary of Israel's Delek Group. It would be linked to the price of Brent crude oil and would include a minimum price.
Shalom said the agreement comes after many meetings with Jordanian officials but gave no other details.
An industry official who asked not to be identified said the deal was worth about $15 billion.
Leviathan, which holds an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of gas, is controlled by Noble Energy and two units of the Delek Group.
Delek declined to comment although a Delek Drilling spokesman confirmed that senior officials from Delek and Noble were in Jordan.
Reuters contributed to this report
