Delek Group Ltd.
units
Delek
Drilling LP
and Avner Oil and Gas LP received Cypriot government approval for 30% of Block
12 rights, held by
US
exploration company
Noble
Energy Inc.
,
to be transferred to them, Cypriot website "inews" reports.
Approval of the transfer of these rights from Noble to the Delek unit
will encourage cooperation between
Cyprus
and
Israel
in drilling the Block 12 license, which is close to the Leviathan
field.
Noble Energy believes that there is only
3-9 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas in
Cyprus
's
Block 12, despite earlier forecasts of 10 TCF. However, Noble Energy believes
that the chance of locating gas is 60%, which is considered a high estimate.