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On November 5, 2018, the Israeli Energy Minister announced the launching of the second round of exploration for natural gas licenses in Israel's economic waters in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The bid round details will be published in the upcoming weeks on the Israeli Energy Ministry's website.
Submission of bids by June 2019 with announcement of the winners expected in July 2019.
The following preliminary information is already available on the Israeli Energy Ministry's website:
Zoning of Blocks:
In the new bid round, licenses for 19 blocks will be issued in five zones. Each block measures up to 400 sq km and each zone, consisting of multiple blocks, can be as large as 1600 sq km. The decision to market the zones is to allow better correlation between the exploration areas and subsurface geological structures that potentially contain oil and gas reservoirs.
The areas are located in the central and southern part of Israel's economic waters, an area which has already been partially explored.
Participant Guarantees:
The basic participation guarantee will be $ 2.5 million (US). Each additional block in the same zone will require another $ 0.5 million (US) guarantee. The maximum guarantee required to receive four consecutive blocks (zone) will be $ 4 million (US). In addition, before drilling, the licensee will be required to place an additional guarantee, in the sum of $ 5 million (US).
Period License:
An exploration license will be granted for an initial period of 3 years. During this period, the licensees will implement the work plan. After completing the work plan, the licensee may request a license extension of two years, provided that they submit a work plan that includes licensing. They will also submit an additional work plan that will be approved by the petroleum commissioner.
After drilling and completing all the work plans, the term will be extended to two years, to a maximum of seven years, .
Competition Consideration:
To encourage participation in this process, the Israeli Energy Ministry has decided to limit the number of licenses to any one party to 8 licenses. In addition, it has been decided that any licensee holding over 20% of a production petroleum lease will not be able to participate in the current bid round. In addition, a group of license holders will be preferred in the current market.
Environmental Principles:
Licenses will only be granted in areas approximately four miles or greater from the shoreline. While granting exploration licenses and approving surveys, drilling and infrastructure, the Ministry of Energy will inform the licensees of various environmental requirements.
Fees and payments:
Companies who are interested in participating in a bid to register and submit a bid to a third party and to a third party. The data package will be available for purchase at the Israeli Energy Ministry's website.
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