Gas sales give lift to Israel's Delek Group

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- After posting strong second-quarter results, the chief executive officer at Israeli energy company Delek said growth should continue through future investments.

Delek, which operates in some of the largest natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea, said operating profit for the second quarter increased 69 percent to $69 million. Net income swung from a $152 million loss in the second quarter of 2014 to a $5.5 million gain, driven in large part from sales from the Tamar gas field off the Israeli coast.

Members of the Israeli government moved in mid-August to clear the way for the full development of offshore natural gas reserves. The Israel Antitrust Authority had ruled that Delek Group and its partners at Noble Energy, which has headquarters in Texas, control all of the gas reservoirs off the nation's coast, and the latest agreement means the country now has an opportunity to clear those anti-trust hurdles in the way of full offshore development.

"We need to extract the gas from the sea" to stimulate the economy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Delek Chief Executive Asaf Bartfeld said the company was looking for future growth through what he described as a major strategic investment.

"Should such a deal indeed occur, together with the group's existing activities in the energy sector, including the ongoing and growing activities in Cyprus, it will increasingly solidify our position as a major player in the international energy sector," he said in a statement.

Delek in June submitted a declaration to the Cypriot government that reserves discovered in the Aphrodite prospect were considered of commercial quality.