Israel > Legal Developments > Projects, Energy & Natural Resources
Search News and Articles
ISRAELI NATURAL GAS SECTOR - HAS THE DREAM BECOME A REALITY?
Adv. Amit Krispin, head of the Energy and Infrastructure department in Seligman & Co.
The writer represents a large number of natural gas consumers and infrastructure companies in the industry.
In 2002, shortly after the discovery of the first natural gas fields in Israeli territorial waters, the Natural Gas Act was enacted (the "Law"). The Law's stated purpose was to create suitable conditions for the development of the natural gas industry in Israel, mainly through the private sector, and to encourage competition in this industry, in accordance with Government policy in the fields of economics and energy.
Israeli Infrastructure and Natural Gas Industry - Recent Highlights
• Background
The Israeli gas industry has undergone tremendous developments in the past decade, due to the discovery of significant natural gas fields in Israeli territorial waters, the largest of which are the Tamar field, estimated at 247 billion cubic meters (“BCM”), and the Leviathan field containing 453 BCM. Currently, the “Mary B” field (20-16 BCM) is the only operative field and it provides, as of 2004, natural gas to the Israeli Electric Company (“IEC”). The recent discoveries produced a fast-growing energy market, such that in 2010, 45% of IEC electricity production was based on natural gas, compared to o% in 2003, and the overall consumption of natural gas increased by 275% between 2004-2009.
Oil and Gas Exploration in Israel
Recent announcements regarding the discovery of commercially viable quantities of natural gas in Israel's territorial waters or economic zone in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin have led to significant activities in the Israeli market and considerable interest in oil and gas assets from abroad.
From Draining the Hula Lake to the Draining of Bureaucracy
Why Large-scale Infrastructure Projects are bogged down and how to free the Bottleneck. There is a high level of involvement of the courts in daily life in Israel. Almost every large-scale project, even though it may be backed by a plethora of detailed and lengthy contracts drawn up by teams of lawyers, eventually reaches the portals of the courts. An article by Adv. Moriel Matalon, Managing Partner of Gornitzky & Co., Israel.