Court ruling could slow progress of deepwater Leviathan project offshore Israel

Offshore staff

HOUSTON – Noble Energy says the Supreme Court of the State of Israel has affirmed the government’s natural gas regulatory framework, with the exception of stability provisions.

Although the court recognized the necessity for regulatory stability, it concluded that the government should provide stability assurances and provisions via an alternate legal mechanism, and gave the government up to one year to resolve this matter.

David L. Stover, Noble’s chairman, president and CEO, said: “The court’s ruling, while recognizing that timely natural gas development is a matter of strategic national interest for Israel, is disappointing and represents another risk toLeviathan timing.

“Development of a project of this magnitude, where large investments are to be made over multiple years, requires Israel to provide a stable investment climate. Noble Energy has consistently maintained that stability is a minimum condition for project development, and our position has not changed.

“As we have stated before, we will vigorously defend our rights related to our assets to protect shareholder value. It is now up to the government of Israel to deliver a solution which at least meets the terms of the framework, and to do so quickly.”

03/29/2016

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