The Delek Drilling Limited Partnership (TASE: DEDR.L) partnership paid the Israel Tax Authority NIS 550 million in capital gains tax on its revenue from the sales of rights in the Tamar natural gas reservoir to Tamar Petroleum. In the deal, which was transacted last month, Delek Drilling and Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) sold 9.25% of the rights in the Tamar reservoir as part of their obligations to gradually sell their holdings in the reservoir under the natural gas plan. RELATED ARTICLES Delek begins Tamar selloff with $650m bond offering Weak overseas demand for Tamar Petroleum The deal took place in two stages. The first stage was a $650 million bond issue by Tamar Petroleum and a $330 million equity offering two weeks later. To this should be added the $125 million discounted value of the super royalty on the rights, giving a total of $1.1 billion. The 25% tax was imposed on the difference between the book value of the rights in and price received by the partnership in the sale. According to Delek Drillings' most recent financial statements, the book value of the rights in the reservoir was $400 million. The one-time tax revenue from the sale is likely to reduce the government's 2017 budget deficit. Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on August 2, 2017 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017
