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Israeli nerves jangle amid reports

of Chevron cutting supplies

ISRAEL AN emergency meeting of Israel’s Knesset return to the $6.30 agreed in 2012, gas supplies
Finance Committee has been called as incom- will not resume.
Noble’s new owner ing US super-major Chevron is reported to have Meanwhile, Chevron spokesperson told
has terminated a gas halted gas sales from the Tamar gas field to Israel Kallanish Energy that the company could not
contract to an Israeli Electric Corp. (IEC), demanding new terms be comment on “sensitive commercial matters,” but
power company. agreed. said it had not “discontinued operations from its
Chevron, which has only just acquired stakes facilities in Israel”.
in Tamar and Leviathan, has denied that gas sales For its part, IEC says it has had to turn to
to IEC have stopped. the spot market to maintain gas supplies to
However, Israeli press said last week that Israeli customers, and reports suggest the firm
Noble Energy had halted sales following the paid $4.97 mmBtu for gas from Leviathan, the
completion of its takeover by Chevron. partners in which are Delek (45.33%), Chevron
The meeting will be held on October 14, with (39.66%) and Ratio Oil Exploration (15%).
representatives of Chevron, its key partner in IEC is understood to have taken the issue to
Tamar and Leviathan, Delek Drilling, IEC, the court and is appealing to the ICA. Meanwhile, it
Israeli Energy Ministry and the Israel Competi- said that Noble/Chevron was acting like “a bully”
tion Authority (ICA) all invited to present their and said it hoped that the issue was not “an indi-
views. cation of the [new] philosophy of doing business
Israel’s Jerusalem Post reported that the that came here with Chevron”.
US firm had told the IEC it would not resume According to The Marker, Israeli vice attor-
gas flows unless prices were raised. Stakes ney-general Meir Levin ruled that, based on
in Tamar are held by Delek (22%), Chevron existing agreements, Noble does have the right
(25%), Isramco (28.75%), Tamar Petroleum of veto until the end of 2021, with the ICA com-
(16.75%), Dor Gas (4%) and Everest (3.5%). pelled to intervene.
IEC reached a deal with the other partners to Over the weekend, Chevron and the IEC
supply gas for $4 per million British thermal agreed to resolve the issues and settle financial
units (mmBtu), but neither Noble (now Chev- claims and counter-claims at a later date. Accord-
ron) nor Delek agreed to these terms. The US ing to Jerusalem Post, Chevron has resumed gas
firm has now said that if IEC does not agree to to IEC from Tamar. ™

Week 41 15•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15