Israel plans to leave its biggest offshore natural gas project, Leviathan, in the hands of a U.S.-Israeli consortium while opening the industry to more competition, under a proposal announced on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been adamant in seeking a deal that would allow Leviathan to be developed and sought a parliament vote to let the state circumvent the antitrust authority, which has expressed opposition.
When some ministers said they would not support such a position, Netanyahu faced a coalition crisis and ultimately the vote was postponed due to lack of a majority.
A forum of top Israeli ministers will meet on Thursday to try to break up a regulatory logjam stalling the development of Israel’s biggest natural gas field.
Disputes over ownership and pricing have held up the production of gas from the offshore Leviathan gas field, controlled primarily by Houston-based Noble Energy Inc. and Israel’s Delek Group Ltd. Ministers will be asked to declare gas resources a national security issue, overriding the country’s antitrust authority to push ahead a contested natural gas policy.
