Abu Dhabi's Mubadala buys Delek Drilling's Tamar stake

Tamar Photo: Ben Yoster
Tamar Photo: Ben Yoster

Delek Drilling will receive $1.025 billion for its remaining 22% stake in the Israeli offshore gas field.

Delek Group Ltd. (TASE:DLEKG) energy exploration and production unit Delek Drilling Limited Partnership (TASE:DEDR.L), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, announced today that it has sold its remaining 22% stake in the Tamar offshore gas field to Mubadala Petroleum of Abu Dhabi for $1.025 billion, and an estimated $75 million for all the gas from Tamar since the start of 2021 until the transfer of rights.

Delek Drilling said, "In the coming two months, following a number of conditions contingent on the agreement being completed, the deal will be closed and Mubadala Petroleum will enter Delek Drilling's shoes in the Tamar project."

Delek Drilling also holds a 45.3% stake in the Leviathan offshore field and was forced to sell its Tamar stake as part of the government framework agreement to make Israel's gas industry more competitive.

The other partners in the Tamar field are: Chevron (operator, 25%) (formerly Noble Energy), Isramco (28.75%), Tamar Petroleum (16.75%), Dor Gas (4%) and Everest (3.5%). Revenue from the Tamar field in the first half of 2021 was $558 million for the sale of 3.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu said, "This transaction marks a milestone in the alignment between Israel and the UAE following the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement signed between the two countries in 2020. He added, "On completion, the deal will represent one of the largest transactions between an Israeli entity and an Arab entity, which shows how Israel's Natural Gas resources can be a source of collaboration between nations. This is yet another pivotal brick to the wall of friendship and collaboration Delek Drilling has been building in the region. "Our focus right now in Delek Drilling is on the expansion of our mega Leviathan reservoir and on creating new markets in the region and beyond for our produced Natural Gas."

The Tamar field was discovered in 2009 and is located offshore 90 west of Haifa, at a depth of 5,000 meters below sea level, and in waters that are 1,700 meters deep. Production began in 2013, where the natural gas in Tamar is extracted through five production wells. The gas flows through two 140 kilometer pipelines to the primary and main processing facility on the Tamar Platform where most of the gas processing takes place. The natural gas is then transmitted from the platform through a pipeline to the onshore terminal in Ashdod, and into the Israeli market through the INGL national gas pipeline with a proportion being exported on to Jordan and Egypt.

Mubadala Petroleum is an upstream oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in 10 countries the Middle East and North Africa , Russia and Southeast Asia. Mubadala Petroleum was established in 2012 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government. 

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 2, 2021

Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021

Tamar Photo: Ben Yoster
Tamar Photo: Ben Yoster
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