- Noble Energy (NBL +1.3%) says it remains committed to the development of Israel's offshore natural gas fields for export, after Eni's (E +0.3%) recent discovery of the largest gas field in the Mediterranean that Israeli officials fear could threaten its deal with developers that was based on expectations of substantial gas exports to Egypt.
- The Eni discovery is seen as sparing Egypt Pres. Al Sisi the political liability of doing a major gas deal with Israel.
- Production of the Israeli fields already had been delayed by disagreements about regulation, pricing and profit-sharing, and NBL urges the government to "follow through on [the] approved framework without further delay."
- NBL CEO David Stover says the competition from Egypt could help spur Israeli regulators to approve the framework that would allow the company to move forward with an expansion of the Tamar gas field and the development of Leviathan, and says the region’s demand for natural gas, as well as demand from export markets in Europe and Asia, is substantial enough to support production from both gas fields.
- Israel's Leviathan field, found in 2010, had been considered the largest in the Mediterranean until the discovery in Egypt, and the smaller Tamar field was found in 2009.