Delek Drilling is ramping up its efforts to expand into LNG, posting a job advertisement for an LNG senior commercial advisor.
The job posting asked for someone with knowledge of “commodity markets, gas supply and trading, LNG value chain, and various aspects of SPAs in the fields of gas and LNG”.
Delek has been working on involvement in LNG for some time, signing up studies and working on plans. However, it does not yet appear to have an employee dedicated to LNG. Previously, it has relied on outsourced expertise in this regard.
The company did not disclose how much the advisor might be paid. Potential workers must have experience of working with the majors and in advising on sale and purchase agreement (SPA) negotiations. They would also have to be able to work in Israel and the European Union.
Delek has been working specifically on floating LNG exports from the Leviathan field, offshore Israel. The company said it had ended discussions with Golar LNG in June this year. It then went on to extend talks with Exmar on collaboration between the two parties.
Exmar, in its third quarter results, said it was holding talks on the use of its 0.5 million tonne per year Tango FLNG vessel with unnamed third parties. “Term sheet discussions are ongoing with various parties,” it said.
Leviathan began producing at the end of 2019. Delek said it was exporting around half the field’s production to Jordan and Egypt in the first half of the year.
Reuters reported in October that Israel was considering options to boost gas exports to Egypt.
In particular, it is interested in an LNG export pipeline through the north of the Sinai Peninsula, claiming this could start up within two years. This could also boost Egyptian LNG exports.