cooperation and ensure access to new energy resources," Jabbarov said on social media. He did not disclose other details.
On Monday, a consortium consisting of SOCAR, UK oil and gas major BP Plc and Israel's NewMed Energy secured licenses to explore for gas in Zone I-6 in Israel's EEZ in the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel's Energy and Infrastructure Ministry reported that its head Eli Cohen and the ministry's Oil Commissioner Chen Bar-Yoseph awarded the consortium six licenses as part of the country's fourth offshore bid round for natural gas exploration. Each company holds about one third of the rights to each license. For SOCAR and BP, this will be the first foray into Israel's gas sector.
The licenses were granted in the area known as Zone I, which covers about 1,700 square km in the northern part of Israel's exclusive economic waters.
"Activity in this area - which has almost never been explored before from a natural resource perspective - is expected to focus in the first stage on conducting seismic and other surveys, while the results of these surveys will inform the decision on whether to drill exploration wells," the ministry said.
Bar-Yoseph said in the press release that Israel is pleased to award the first licenses in the fourth bid round, as this is a breakthrough in gas exploration in Israel. These licenses, along with others that will be issued later represent companies' commitment to make investments that will total tens of millions of dollars in the first stage, and possibly even more at more advanced stages, he said.
(source interfax.com 18-03-2025)