The partners owning rights to Leviathan, Israel’s largest natural gas deposit, signed a $700 million contract to supply gas to Paz Oil Co., as arrangements to finance the project are nearing completion.
Paz, the country’s biggest fuel company, will receive about 3.1 billion cubic meters of gas over 15 years, according to a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange filing on Thursday. The deal would be the fourth linked to Leviathan.
Leviathan’s partners are in the final stages of talks with major banks to secure $4 billion needed to develop the offshore field, Yossi Abu, chief executive officer of Delek Drilling LP, one of the reservoir’s stakeholders, said earlier this week.
The companies need to show a roster of contracts to persuade the banks that the Leviathan project is stable and worth funding. The partners signed their first major deal two months ago, a $10 billion agreement with Natural Electric Power Co. of Jordan.
Through its units, billionaire Yitzchak Teshuva’s Delek Group Ltd. owns a 45.3 percent stake in Leviathan. Houston, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. holds 39.7 percent, and Ratio Oil Exploration 1992 LP owns the rest.
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