Noble Energy signed two 10-year deals to sell a total of 1.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the Leviathan and Tamar fields to Dolphinus Holdings to supply gas in Egypt.
The natural gas is anticipated to supply industrial and petrochemical customers as well as future power generation in Egypt, Noble Energy said in a statement.
Sales volumes under the agreement associated with the Leviathan field are anticipated to begin at a firm rate of approximately 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day at the startup of the Leviathan project at the end of 2019.
For the Tamar agreement, sales volumes are anticipated to begin at an interruptible rate of up to 350 MMcf/d, dependent upon gas availability beyond existing customer obligations in Israel and Jordan. Noble Energy will have an option to convert the Tamar interruptible quantity to a firm-basis with a significant take or pay commitment.
Gary Willingham, Noble Energy’s executive vice president, operations, said, “At Leviathan, we have executed agreements totaling nearly 900 MMcf/d and are closing in on our targeted sales volume amount of 1 Bcf/d. For Tamar, we now have a contract to sell any excess gas beyond current customer needs in Israel and Jordan to Egypt.”
The gas price formula is the same under both agreements with linkage to Brent oil prices, similar to our other regional agreements. The Leviathan contract represents expected total gross revenue approaching $7 billion at recent Brent prices, with Tamar potential revenues up to a similar amount, dependent on actual volumes sold, Noble Energy said.
Noble Energy operates the Leviathan and Tamar gas fields with a 39.66 percent working interest and 32.5 percent working interest, respectively. Earlier in 2018, the company made a 7.5 percent working interest divestment in the Tamar field which is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2018, at which time its interest in Tamar will reduce to 25 percent.