Africa Oil & Gas: Israel Launches 2nd Offshore Bid Round

Israel announced the launch of its second offshore bid round on Sunday November 4.

As part of the latest round, licenses for 19 blocks will be issued in five zones. Each block measures up to 154 square miles, according to Israel’s Ministry of Energy. The zones are located in the southern extent of Israel’s economic waters. Announcement of the bid winners is expected to take place in July 2019.

“It is my pleasure to announce the launch of our new bid round for exploration and production of natural gas reservoirs in the East Mediterranean,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a government statement.

“This bid is intended to continue the development of the natural gas market in Israel, increase competition by the entry of new international energy companies and broaden Israel’s energy security. These efforts correlate with the progress of the subsea pipeline between Israel and Europe, which will allow us to export the gas to Greece, Italy and the rest of Europe,” he added.

Israel’s first offshore bid round was announced in 2016. At the end of the round, Energean and a consortium of companies from India were granted six exploration licenses.

Several fields have been discovered offshore Israel to date, including the Leviathan gas field in 2010, the Aphrodite/Ishai gas field in 2012 and the Karish and Tanin gas fields in 2012-2013. source: by  Andreas Exarheas|Rigzone Staff