Israel will resume diplomatic talks with Cyprus next month if the rights holders of the Ishai (Israel) and Aphrodite (Cyprus) field cannot reach a settlement by March 4. Israel's Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources Karine Elharrar has warned the companies developing the offshore fields about the deadline and said that all options are on the table including unifying the field.
Delek Drilling, Chevron and Shell are developing the Aphrodite field in Cyprus and Israel Opportunity, Nammax Oil & Gas, Petroleum Services Holdings (PSH), and Eden Energy are developing the adjoining Ishai field.
Elharrar wrote to the energy companies, "The State of Israel has not relinquished its rights to the Aphrodite prospect including its demand that the field not be unilaterally developed (by Cyprus)."
The Ishai partners expressed major satisfaction over Elharrar's position and said that her approach to the matter was in contrast to her predecessor Yuval Steinitz.
The largest part of the gas field is in Cypriot territorial waters and is called Aphrodite while the smaller part in Israel is called Ishai. There are an estimated 120 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas in the Aphrodite field and an estimated 10-12 BCM in the Ishai field. With the rights holders unable to reach agreement on the exact division of the field and whether it will be exploited as a single field, the two countries will need to resolve the matter. Israel and Cyprus signed a cooperation agreement in 2010 dealing with any gas fields that might be discovered in the Mediterranean, which includes a clause about offshore fields that straddle the maritime border. In 2012, it transpired that the Ishai gas field was a continuation of Cyprus's gas field. Since then the partners in the two fields have been struggling to reach agreement.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 7, 2022.
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