Operator of the Tamar offshore gas field has suspended supply of gas to the Israel Electric Company (IEC) following the completion of its acquisition by energy giant Chevron.
Minister of Strategic Affairs Orit Farkash-Hacohen called on the government to “make it clear to the company [Chevron] that…the Israeli public comes first.” She said this obligation is valid even when “large sums of money [are] in the game.”
Former Joint List MK Dov Khenin said that “the great looting is ongoing under the guise of the COVID-19 crisis.”
The IEC claims it could lose up to $50 million in the upcoming year due to Chevron refusing to sell gas from Tamar at a reduced rate.
The letter to the ICA accused Noble Energy of “keeping the Israeli energy market as a hostage” with the goal of “totally suppressing competition in the natural gas market and boosting its own profits.”
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Noble Energy and Delek control 47% of Tamar, other partners such as Isramco (28.75%) and Tamar Petroleum (16.75%) own parts of it as well. However, Noble Energy and Delek control 85% of the Leviathan gas field. Meaning that when the IEC is forced to buy gas from Leviathan to meet demands, these two companies make more money.
The IEC claimed in the letter that Noble Energy is acting “as a bully” and expressed that the refusal to provide it with gas “isn’t the indication of the [new] philosophy of doing business that came here with Chevron.”
The other partners in the Tamar gas field joined the IEC in appealing to the ICA for aid, citing that Noble Energy has a conflict of interest due to it owning more shares in the Leviathan gas field than it does in Tamar.