Cyprus Mail: Pivotal that more gas is discovered in EEZ’

The expression of intent by Israeli companies to give natural gas to Egypt does not affect Cyprus` strategic plans, and were expected, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Tuesday.

The minister was commenting on reports on Monday that the partners in Israel’s giant Leviathan natural gasfield have said they had signed a preliminary agreement with British oil and gas company BG Group to negotiate a deal to export gas to BG’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Idku, Egypt.

Texas-based Noble Energy is the field’s operator with a 39.66 percent stake. Avner Oil and Delek Drilling, subsidiaries of Delek Group, hold a combined 45.34 per cent, and Ratio Oil has the remaining 15 per cent.

Delek and Avner last month raised $2 billion in an international bond offering to help fund Leviathan’s development.
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