Offshore staff
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli government has awarded 12 new offshore licenses to six companies, including bp and Eni and Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company SOCAR, under the country’s fourth bid round.
MK Israel Katz, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said, "The winning companies have committed to unprecedented investment in natural gas exploration over the next three years, which would hopefully result in the discovery of new natural gas reservoirs. That in turn will solidify Israel's energy security, enhance the country's international relations, contribute to reduction in the cost of living, and form a secure backup energy source in order to accelerate the transition to renewable energies.”
Following analysis of the bids, the results went before Israel’s Petroleum Council, which in turn recommended their approval by the Petroleum Commissioner.
Offshore Zones G - 6 licenses were awarded to Eni (operator), Dana Petroleum and Ratio Energies. Zones I - 6 licenses were awarded to SOCAR (operator), bp and NewMed Energy.
The awards resulted in more than $15 million in signing bonuses.
For the fourth round, the Ministry decided to offer four groups of exploration licenses as zones to enable improved synergy between exploration areas and subsurface structures that might contain hydrocarbon resources.
The previous three bid rounds staged over the past eight years led to the award of 18 licenses and four exploration drilling programs.
For the latest awards, the licenses will be issued for an initial three-year period. After completing work commitments, the companies may request a further extension of up to two years, subject to approval of an updated work program by the Petroleum Commissioner and a commitment to drill on at least one of the licences.
Thereafter, the licenses in the group may be further extended by up to seven years, pending a commitment to drill on the licenses that had not previously been drilled.
10.31.2023
