Historical move: After opponents of the gas outline predicted blacks, the second largest energy company in the world has completed the acquisition of Noble Energy • The state's revenues from natural gas will reach hundreds of billions of shekels
Tamar drilling rig
Photography:
albatross
Now it's official:
the acquisition of Noble Energy, the company responsible for most of the natural gas from Israeli gas reserves, has been completed by energy giant Chevron.
Chevron President Clay Niff, in charge of the company's operations in the Middle East and North Africa, briefed Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz yesterday on the final completion of the deal and the IPO, which took place yesterday afternoon, Israel time.
Last July, Chevron first announced its intention to acquire Noble, and about three weeks ago, the Oil Council recommended to the Ministry of Energy's oil affairs commissioner that it approve the merger of Noble Energy into a Chevron subsidiary.
As part of the merger, Chevron will acquire 100% of Noble Energy's shares, so that after the transaction is completed, there will be a change in the final shareholder in Noble Israel, and Chevron will own the entire shares of Noble Ink - the controlling shareholder in Noble Israel.
According to the Nasdaq report, the value of the transaction is estimated at $ 13 billion, of which $ 5 billion is premium and another $ 8 billion is debt. According to the terms of the transaction, this is not a direct transfer of rights granted under the Petroleum Law, but a transfer of control of the parent company. Noble Israel.
Revenues for the state from Tamar Holdings royalties from the beginning of production in 2013 until today amount to NIS 5.18 billion.
The Ministry of Energy expects a significant increase in royalty revenues in 2020 to a new peak of about NIS 1.5 billion.
In total, the state's revenues from natural gas reservoirs, which also include royalties and corporate taxes, may reach up to NIS 400 billion in the next four decades.
The acquisition of Noble by Chevron puts an end to claims by opponents of the gas outline of "the expected bankruptcy of Noble Energy," as the founder and chairman of the Home Guard Association, Yoni Sapir, claimed in an article published last March on the Seventh Eye website.
In his conversation with the CEO of Chevron, Minister Steinitz expressed his hope that in addition to the issue of natural gas, Chevron will also take part in Israel's high-tech industry on cyber gas, energy efficiency, electricity storage and more, along with involvement in the construction of the Israel Europe gas pipeline (Eastmed). It was agreed that Chevron's management would visit the country after the health situation stabilized. Minister Steinitz: "If Chevron invests here, it could be a good profit for everyone."
Electricity tariffs will go down
Meanwhile, the price of natural gas in the original agreement with the Tamar partnership will be reduced and will lead to savings of tens of millions of dollars by July 2021 - the IEC announced yesterday.
The agreement is subject to the approval or consent of the Competition Authority.
Following negotiations, the IEC announced that it had signed with some of Tamar's partners, who together hold 53% of the rights in the reservoir, an addition to the purchase of natural gas by the company, beyond the minimum contractual amounts, at a reduced price relative to the company's currently paid to Tamar and Whale.
The other Tamar partners, Noble Energy and Delek Drilling, may join the addendum to the agreement, within 60 days of its signing.
The agreement will be valid for nine months, until July 1, 2021 - then in any case the mechanism for determining the price will be opened, as stipulated in the original agreement.
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yiftach Ron-Tal, Chairman of the Israel Electric Corporation, said: "As we promised, we were able to reduce natural gas in accordance with an agreement with Tamar Partners, which we signed in March 2012. This is the lowest price for natural gas purchases in the Israeli economy. Tens of millions of dollars are expected by July 2021. "
Ofer Bloch, CEO of the Electric Company, added: "The agreement with Levitan was the anchor for opening real competition in the economy, and the addition to the Tamar agreement is an extraordinary achievement."
