Massive Leviathan, Tamar Natural Gas Fields Poised to Transform Israel Into Energy Exporter

The Leviathan natural-gas site off the Haifa shore could be twice the size of the Tamar prospect, the largest gas discovery globally in 2009, and position Israel as a gas exporter in coming years, US oil operator Noble Energy Inc. said Thursday.

“Today is a day of celebration for all of us. The State of Israel is an energy independent country,” Yitzhak Tshuva, controlling shareholder of Delek Group, said Thursday. Delek is a partner in the Leviathan natural-gas find through its subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP, who each own 22.67 percent. [...]

“In March, when I was last in Israel, I said that Noble Energy planned to be here for decades to come,” Noble Energy chairman and CEO Charles Davidson said Thursday. “I am thrilled that today’s announcement substantiates the potential of a new and significant energy basin in the eastern Mediterranean, which, if successful, could position Israel as a potential energy exporter in future years.

“I would like to congratulate the State of Israel on the discoveries of the last year and a half, which have the potential to strengthen the economy and security of Israel. Noble is honored to be working with our Israeli partners in this historic development.” [...]

Israel will threaten Turkey if it starts exporting large quantities of LNG. The Turkish LNG pipeline plans from Russia will potentially remove them from a profitable picture if Israel begins large sea based exports of LNG to Europe and Asia in the coming decades.

The largest section discovered so far, the Leviathan gas field, is believed to possibly contain, alongside natural gas, 4.2 billion barrels of oil. Leviathan straddles the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border. Israel is currently in a state of war with Lebanon and does not recognize the de-facto Hamas Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip.

Sharp words are already being exchanged between Jerusalem and Beirut. Upon discovery of the fields in June, Lebanon warned Israel not to drill within their maritime borders. Israel then escalated the rhetoric with military threats, as Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau threatened to use force to

protect the natural gas fields. Following Landau’s announcement, sophisticated security arrangements for Israeli natural gas rigs were leaked to the country’s press. As of press time, further surveying is underway.

It is not unimaginable that, in the next regional war, Israeli and Lebanese military elements could target the other’s natural gas drills. This has the potential to cause a regional ecological catastrophe.

However, progress is being made. Israel is demarcating their maritime borders with Cyprus. According to Batsheva Sobelman of the Los Angeles Times Israeli diplomats say the agreement should secure Israel’s economic interests in the Mediterranean. Cyprus says this doesn’t conflict with a similar agreement signed with Lebanon, still awaiting ratification in parliament.

Cyprus is ending up as the natural mediator in this dispute. While sections of the Levant Basin Province stray into the county’s maritime borders, their shares are comparatively small. More importantly, Cyprus enjoys warm relations with both Israel and Lebanon. When large-scale harvesting of these natural gas fields begins, Cyprus may be able to work with other third parties to broker an agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

Meanwhile, as so often happens in the Middle East, other countries are trying to extract as much influence as possible from the natural gas hullaballoo. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has stated that they are “closely following” the Cyprus-Israel agreement, as reported by al-Masry al-Youm

The ministry is carrying out technical and legal research to ensure that borders under the agreement between Israel and Cyprus do not affect the Egyptian zone, [government spokesperson Hassam] Zaki said.

Egypt is in contact with Cyprus on the issue given the previous agreement between the two countries, he added.

Meanwhile, Turkey went on the diplomatic offensive against the Cyprus-Israel agreement. A Foreign Ministry statement called the maritime border accord “null and void” because it ignored the jurisdiction of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was formed following a military invasion of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey in 1974 following massive intercommunal violence. The only country to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is Turkey, and 35,000 Turkish troops are currently stationed in Northern Cyprus.

Turkey has stated that it “does not have any claim regarding the maritime areas” subject to the demarcation agreement. Cyprus announced plans to have Noble Energy explore the 800,000 acres of Cypriot waters within the Levant Basin a year prior to the demarcation agreement.

While it could be a military catastrophe, steps are being taken to divide the spoils. The imminent visit of Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev in Cyprus is to plan the new energy map and new geopolitics strategy, which are about to be created.  For the first time in its 50-year history, the Republic of Cyprus has become a strong magnet of international attention for reasons not related to the Cyprus problem. The visits to Nicosia of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in October and of German Chancellor Angela Merkel were by all accounts inspired by the mounting evidence that the tiny island republic will soon be one of the biggest natural gas exporters in Europe.

Noble Energy, Inc. Board of Directors:

http://investors.nobleenergyinc.com/directors.cfm 

Jeffrey L. Berenson

Director

Mr. Berenson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Berenson & Company, a private investment banking firm in New York City that he co-founded in 1990. From 1978 until co-founding Berenson & Company, Mr. Berenson was with Merrill Lynch's Mergers and Acquisitions department, becoming head of that department in 1986 and then co-head of its Merchant Banking unit in 1988. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of Patina Oil & Gas Corporation ("Patina") in December 2002 and joined our Board upon completion of our merger with Patina on May 16, 2005. Mr. Berenson is also a member of the Board of Directors of Epoch Holdings Corporation.

Michael A. Cawley

Director

Mr. Cawley has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. ("Foundation") since February 1, 1992, after serving as Executive Vice President of the Foundation since January 1, 1991. Prior to 1991, Mr. Cawley was the President of Thompson, Cawley, Veazey & Burns, a professional corporation, attorneys at law. Mr. Cawley has served as a trustee of the Foundation since 1988 and is also a director of Noble Corporation. He has served as a director of the Company since 1995 and our Lead Independent Director since 2001.

Edward F. Cox

Director

Mr. Cox has been a partner in the law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP, New York, New York for more than five years and has served as the chair of the firm's corporate department and as a member of the firm's management committee. He is chair of the New York League of Conservation Voters' Education Fund, of the New York Regional Commission on Parks and of the Finance Committee of the Trustees of The State University of New York. Mr. Cox has served as a director of the Company since 1984. 

Thomas J. Edelman

Director

Mr. Edelman founded Patina and served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from its formation in 1996 until its May 2005 merger with the Company. He co-founded Snyder Oil Corporation and was its President from 1981 through 1997. From 1980 to 1981, he was with The First Boston Corporation and, from 1975 through 1980, with Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb Incorporated. Mr. Edelman serves as Chairman of Bear Cub Investments LLC, President of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and Trustee and Chair of the Development Committee of The Hotchkiss School. He joined our Board upon completion of our merger with Patina on May 16, 2005. 

Egypt in Crisis

Muslim Brotherhood 

Egypt, one of the only two Arab states to sign peace with Israel, is wobbling dangerously on the brink of revolutionary change with potentially spreading fallout. This week, Israel was dismayed to find itself looking suddenly at three latently hostile fronts about to spring up around its borders:  Lebanon, which has dropped into the Iranian orbit, followed by Egypt, which is heading for terra incognita, and the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Hamas, offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, has gained altitude as a Middle East player from the rise of its less radical parent.
The London Daily Telegraph headlined a story Saturday, apparently confirming confidential US documents released by WikiLeaks, which claimed that since 2008, the American government had secretly backed leading figures behind the uprising for "regime change."
The US embassy in Cairo reportedly helped a young Egyptian dissident secretly attend a US-Sponsored summit for activists in New York. "On his return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and Install a democratic government in 2011," the Telegraph reported.
Persistent claims were heard Saturday, Jan. 29 in various Egyptian and informed western circles that the popular uprising against president Hosni Mubarak, still going strong on its fifth day, was secretly prepared three years ago in Washington during the Bush administration.