After the Knesset approved the gas agreement but failed to vote on transferring Minister of Economy Arye Deri's powers to bypass the Israel Antitrust Authority, the gas partnerships put out statements.
Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) units Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling Limited Partnership (TASE: DEDR.L) said, "The Knesset today has its say in democratic decision making. The Knesset said yes to moving forward with Israel's natural gas shekel-euro exchange rate sector. The way has now been opened to investing the huge amounts required to develop the Leviathan field and expand the Tamar project, in a manner that will ensure complete energy independence for Israel and exploiting the geopolitical window of opportunity to export gas to neighboring countries."
The partnerships continued, "The gas discoveries are the Israeli economy's future engine of growth and will lead to hundreds of billions of shekels revenues for Israel's citizens, for developing Israeli industry and creating thousands of new jobs. The State of Israel has lost precious years because of political and regulatory delays but today the Knesset decided unequivocally that we must work immediately to develop the fields. We must not waste time on more political delays and we must complete the required procedures to start in a new direction."
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) said, "the agreement approved today by the Knesset is an important step towards final approval. We call on the government of Israel to implement the agreement as quickly as possible so that we can progress with the development of Leviathan and expand Tamar. After the final approval of the agreement, we can move forward and conclude the required export contracts, rebuild our work team for the project, and close the necessary implementation contracts with suppliers including local suppliers and raise the external financing needed. All this can bring about the final investment decision for the Leviathan project."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 8, 2015
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