HOUSTON, March 16 (UPI) -- Noble Energy announced it signed a 15-year natural gas sale agreement from the offshore Tamar field with Israel Electric Corp. Ltd.
Noble, which has headquarters in Houston, said the deal was worth at least $18 billion. IEC is expected to purchase around 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the field for Israeli electricity generation.
"This clean-burning fuel will reduce emissions and lower the cost of power generation," Noble Energy Chairman Charles Davidson said in a statement. "Tamar is on schedule to begin commissioning late this year with initial gas deliveries expected in April 2013."
Major natural gas discoveries at the Tamar and Leviathan offshore fields have redefined the Israeli energy sector. Israel gets some of its electricity from gas supplied through sabotage-vulnerable Egyptian pipelines, though officials have said the country must find ways to become self-sufficient in energy.
The Israeli government predicts there's enough natural gas available in Mediterranean waters to meet its demand for energy.
Tamar holds an estimated 9.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
