Are we in talks with Delek and Noble for Israeli gas? And speaking of natural gas: Delek and Noble, which are developing Israel’s Leviathan gas field, are near a USD 4 bn financing agreement, Bloomberg reports. The two have put antitrust issues with the Israeli government behind them and have closed a USD 10 bn gas export agreement with Jordan. Egyptian industry hopes to import gas from Leviathan as part of a bid to become a regional energy hub, but we have competition from Turkey.

As Bloomberg notes: “Plans to export more gas to the region are ongoing, said [Delek’s deputy CEO]. The Leviathan partners are trying to cinch deals with either Turkey or Shell Plc, which operates an idle liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt. The companies would need to expand their production capacity to service those contracts, at an additional cost of about USD 2 bn. ‘The multiple sources of gas, existing infrastructures and the increases in regional demand for natural gas are producing new opportunities, and we intend to take advantage of them,’ Friedman said at the conference. ‘Talks are progressing and we hope to reach export agreements soon.’”