Delek Drilling Limited Partnership (TASE: DEDR.L) CEO Yossi Abu spoke today at a the Hadera EnergyTech Conference. Trying to calm speculation about the consequences of the High Court of Justice ruling striking down the stability clause in the natural gas plan, he said, "Even after the High Court of Justice ruling on the natural gas plan, we are acting creatively and with determination to push ahead with development of the Leviathan reservoir in order to achieve the regulatory stability needed to develop a project on the scale of Leviathan."
Abu added, "The vision of the Leviathan partnership remains unchanged: starting the flow of gas from Leviathan in 2019." He again warned, "We will succeed in meeting the timetables set in the development plan submitted to the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources last month, if a quick solution is found for the issue of regulatory stability."
According to Abu, NIS 4 billion have been invested to date in exploring and developing Leviathan. The cost of continuing development of the reservoir is estimated at $5-6 billion.
Abu confirmed that the partnership was negotiating with Jordan and Egypt for a signed agreement on gas exports from Leviathan.
Concerning possible exports to Turkey, Abu confirmed that prolonged negotiations were still taking place, including a plan for laying a 500-kilometer pipeline from Leviathan to Turkey at a depth of 2 kilometers, in order to diversify the sources of gas for the Turkish economy, which currently depends on gas from Iran and Azerbaijan.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 4, 2016
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016