Noble Energy President Brent Smolik, in a post-earnings conference call, said the company would consider monetizing the Eagle Ford Shale asset "if somebody came with a big enough check."
Central to progress will be a multibillion-dollar FLNG terminal that would float in the eastern Mediterranean and allow exports to Europe, Yigal Landau, CEO of Ratio Oil, a minority partner in Leviathan, told Reuters.
The offshore Leviathan project came online a month ago and is already supplying Egypt and Jordan with natural gas.
The deals involve a minimum investment of $332 million, the petroleum ministry said in a statement.
Israel will initially export 200 million cubic feet of gas per day to Egypt, two Egyptian industry sources said.
Here’s a snapshot of recent energy deals including the sale of Shell’s remaining Haynesville position plus the closing of Callon’s $2.7 billion merger with Carrizo Oil & Gas.
European governments and Israel last year agreed to proceed with the so-called EastMed project, a $6 billion to $7 billion pipeline project to carry gas from Israeli and Cypriot waters into Europe.
Texas-based Noble Energy Inc., Israel's Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil said that operations from the offshore Leviathan Field had started, effectively doubling the amount of Israeli-produced gas.
Exxon Mobil, which has had a long-standing downstream presence in Egypt dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, marked its foray into gas exploration in the country in February 2019.
Rescinding a Dec. 17 injunction, the Jerusalem District Court said appellants had not provided sufficient evidence that Leviathan’s emissions, in its start-up phase, could prove dangerous.