The Israeli company, Delek, revealed on Thursday that it had concluded a deal to sell its 22 percent stake in the Tamar gas field, located in the eastern Mediterranean, to the Abu Dhabi government’s Mubadala Oil Company, for an amount of nearly $1 billion.
Delek said that the matter constitutes the largest commercial deal concluded between Israeli and Emirati companies, since the normalization of relations between the two countries last year.
Initial agreement on the deal was reached in April, but government approvals took time after that.
The Tamar gas field is considered one of the main sources of energy for Israel, and has the capacity to produce 11 billion cubic meters of gas annually, which covers the majority of the needs of the Israeli market, and the gas exported to Egypt and Jordan.
According to Mubadala, the acquisition will “complete its (..) biased gas strategy in line with its goals” in the energy field.
Delek also owns a large stake in the nearby gas field, Leviathan, and is selling what it holds in Tamar to keep pace with government moves to open up the market to more competition.
For his part, Yossi Abo, CEO of Delek, said, “The huge deal with a company from the Emirates, in addition to exporting gas to Egypt and Jordan, represents measures on the ground and (shows) exactly how to build the new Middle East.”
