- Israel's energy minister says the country is encouraging global oil companies to further explore its offshore waters for natural gas, adding that he has met senior execs of more than 20 energy companies, including Eni (NYSE:E), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Hess (NYSE:HES) to gauge interest.
- Yuval Steinitz estimates 350T-530T cf of gas, or at least 60B boe, in the whole of the eastern Mediterranean basin, which includes Israeli, Egyptian and Cypriot waters.
- Steinitz also says a framework agreement on two gas fields would be signed off by the prime minister this year and that exploration for more fields could begin thereafter; Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) and Delek (OTCPK:DGRLY) had been negotiating long-term contracts to sell gas from the fields to companies in Egypt, but the deals were delayed by bureaucratic hurdles in Israel.