Spotlight: Egypt gas discovery sends shock waves to Israel

A huge natural gas field discovered recently offshore Egypt has triggered jitters in Israel, with energy stocks plummeting and politicians pointing fingers at each other over the delayed development of Israel's own gas fields.

The discovery of a "supergiant" gas field in Egypt, which certainly will bring profound changes to a country much in need of energy, is casting shadows over Israel's ambitions to become a major gas supplier in the region.

Italian energy group Eni S.p.A. said the field at the Zohr site in the deep waters of Egypt is the "largest ever" gas discovery in the Middle East, with "a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place covering an area of about 100 square kilometers."

If validated in further tests, Zohr could dwarf Israel's offshore discoveries in recent years -- the Leviathan gas field with an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and the 10-tcf Tamar field -- and put Egypt in a position that surpasses Israel as a potential major gas exporter to the region.

Markets immediately reacted to the news. Shares of Texas-based Noble Energy, the main partner in the consortium which develops the Israeli gas fields, fell more than eight percent in the New York Stock Exchange over the past week, while more than six billion shekels (1.53 billion U.S. dollars) were wiped off the value of Israel's leading gas companies, Delek Group, Avner Oil and Ratio.

Israel has signed memorandums of understanding to export gas to the Middle East and hoped to sell it to even more distant countries through European companies that operate in Egypt. But the conclusion of these contracts was stalled by bureaucracy and regulatory impediments.

Now investors are worried that these early contracts will not become binding agreements, as Egypt found its own gas bonanza.

Eni said that the discovery, after full development, will be large enough to satisfy Egypt's natural gas demand "for decades," complicating Israel's ambitious bid to become a major gas supplier in the region.

"It's a bit early to assess the quality of the data and their significance, but if they are accurate, the discovery off the coast of Egypt is bad news for the Israeli economy and the companies holding the (gas) assets in particular," said Eldad Tamir, founder and CEO of Israel investment house Tamir Fishman.

"The growing supply puts enormous pressure to drop prices, it increases transportation costs and reduces profit margins and state revenues," Tamir said. "Control holders of the Tamar and Leviathan fields have now direct competition."

Eni plans to start development as soon as possible. "Eni will immediately appraise the field with the aim of accelerating a fast track development of the discovery," the company said in a statement.

Some analysts noted that Noble and Delek have a head start over the new competitor, as gas production at the Tamar field kicked off in March 2013. But the development of Leviathan, Israel's largest gas deposit, is subjunctive to an approval of a framework plan for the Israeli gas market, which has been stalled for years.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing hard to get the parliament approve the plan but found it difficult to achieve the necessary majority after the plan was widely criticized and sparked a public protest.

Opponents say the plan preserves the monopoly of Noble and Delek over Israel's gas fields. Instead of supplying Israel with cheap energy, the plan will allow the gas partners to charge higher prices, which in turn will hurt local industry and increase the already high living cost in the country, according to critics.

In an attempt to mount pressure on Israel, Noble hinted on Thursday at possible legal actions against Israel, should the parliament would not approve the gas plan shortly.

"It is imperative that the government of Israel follow through on this approved framework without further delay," the company said in a statement. "Fully prepared, and is well positioned, to take the actions necessary to protect the value of its assets."

Thanks to the push by Netanyahu, the parliament voted for the controversial gas deal late Monday. But before the companies could move forward with the agreement, Netanyahu still needs to win the parliament's approval for the transfer of the antitrust power from the Ministry of Economy to the cabinet in order to circumvent the opposition of the antitrust commissioner to the deal.

Israeli media reports said Netanyahu has so far not yet got enough votes in the parliament for the planned detour. Endit