ILD Energy Signs Natural Gas Deal with Daewoo

Israel Land Development Energy has signed a deal with a subsidiary of South Korean group Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to sell natural gas from its newly discovered offshore reserves. ILD Energy said it agreed with the Daewoo subsidiary ENR to cooperate in building a floating liquefied natural gas facility for its Myra and Sara gas fields.

While ILD Energy was expected to begin drilling in coming months, an independent evaluator has already estimated the two sites hold a total 6.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas. Further negotiations will be carried out once final results are received, but the statement listed a minimum annual purchase of 4.3 billion cubic metres (0.15 tcf) of natural gas for 15-20 years.

Daewoo has already agreed to develop a larger Israeli offshore gas field with an U.S.-Israeli consortium led by Noble Energy and Delek Group. Gas production is set to soar in Israel in coming decades following the discovery of large natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, and the government has said floating LNG terminals could be a key method for export.