The shareholders of the Israeli exploration and production company Delek Drilling (a subsidiary of Delek Group) will vote in July 2018 on whether to move forward with a US$200m investment in East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), which operates a natural gas export pipeline to Egypt.
In February 2018, Delek Drilling signed two gas supply deals of US$7.5bn each with the Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings to export around 64 bcm of gas to Egypt. Under the first agreement, Delek will supply around 32 bcm of gas to Dolphinus Holdings over a 10-year period (around 3.2 bcm/year) on a firm basis including a take or pay mechanism for a minimal annual quantity. Under the second agreement, Delek Drilling and Noble will supply up to 3.5 bcm/year of gas from the Tamar field to Dolphinus Holdings on an interruptible basis; gas deliveries will start in 2020 or 2021 and will stop when the 32 bcm amount is delivered.
The gas supplies will be shipped by pipeline, with several options currently under review, namely using the EMG gas pipeline, the Jordanian Israeli pipeline (currently under construction) or the Nitzana pipeline, a new gas pipeline to connect Egypt and Israel.