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AFP
Israel will on Tuesday launch a bidding process for oil-and-gas exploration licences off its coast in the Mediterranean, the first such offers in four years.
The government has high hopes for the new blocks being offered following the discoveries of the Tamar and Leviathan natural gas fields off its coast since 2009. Israel hopes the Leviathan field will eventually allow it to become a gas exporter, which could provide it with additional leverage in the turbulent Middle East.
According to the energy ministry, 24 offshore blocks will be offered for exploration in the first round starting Tuesday and ending around March 2017, each up to 400 square kilometres (155 square miles).
The recent approval of a long-delayed natural gas industry framework by the government has cleared the path for Israel to move forward.
The Tamar field, discovered in 2009 and which began production in 2013, has estimated reserves of up to 238 billion cubic metres (8.4 trillion cubic feet).
Leviathan, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019, is estimated to hold 18.9 trillion cubic feet (535 billion cubic metres) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of condensate.
Jordan in September struck
a deal to buy 300 million cubic feet (8.5 million cubic metres)
of gas per day from the Leviathan over a 15-year term and the
Israeli government is seeking additional commitments. Last month, Israel and Turkey agreed to start discussions on building
a gas pipeline to pump Israeli
gas to Europe.