Israel has awarded 12 licences to six companies for the purpose of exploring natural gas off its Mediterranean coast, in an apparent bid to diversify the country’s energy suppliers and nurture more competition as Tel Aviv aims to become an energy hub to export gas to Europe.
The licences were given to the likes of the Italian company Eni (ENI.MI), the Korean subsidiary Dana Petroleum, the United Kingdom’s British Petroleum (BP), as well as Israel’s Ratio Energies (RATIp.TA), which will explore an area west of the Leviathan field, the site which both supplies Israel with gas and provides exports.
According to Israel’s Energy Minister, Israel Katz, on Sunday: “The winning companies have committed to unprecedented investment in natural gas exploration over the next three years, which would hopefully result in the discovery of new natural gas reservoirs.”
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 