A group of energy companies that
discovered large amounts of natural gas off Israel’s Mediterranean coast
said they were in talks to export the gas to Europe via a pipeline to
Turkey.
They are also studying options to export gas to Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, Avner Oil & Gas said yesterday.
“The partners are negotiating with various officials,” Avner, one of the partners in the project, said.
A spokesman for Delek Group, the parent company
for Avner and for Delek Drilling, said the group - led by Noble Energy -
was already in advanced talks with companies in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt
and the Palestinian Authority about buying Israeli gas and building
pipelines.
The talks show that the gas project is moving
ahead, with prospects of eventually boosting Israel’s export revenue and
economic growth. They also indicate reduced tensions between Israel and
Turkey. A pipeline could improve relations between the two countries,
which have been poor since 2010.
Recoverable gas in the Levant Basin, which lies
largely in Israeli and Cypriot waters in the eastern Mediterranean,
hold some 3.5tn cu m of gas, the US Geological Survey has estimated.
