The Israeli gas group NewMed Energy announced on Tuesday that it had received an offer to buy 50% of its capital from a consortium formed by the British giant BP and the Emirati company ADNOC for about 4 billion dollars. BP confirmed the offer in a statement issued in London, without revealing the amount.
NewMed holds the exploitation rights to more than 45% of Israel’s largest offshore natural gas field, Leviathan, whose production is exported to Jordan and Egypt, in addition to supplying the Israeli domestic market. The participation of an Emirati group in this offer is a sign of the normalization undertaken in recent years between Israel and several Arab countries in the process known as the “Abraham Accords”.
“The offer we received today is the result of the warm relationships and bridges we have built over the past few years with energy companies in the region […] and will propel [l’entreprise] from a regional to a global player” in the gas sector, writes NewMed.
Israel’s Energy Minister, Israel Katz, welcomed the offer announced on NewMed Energy, seeing it as “proof of the potential of Israel’s natural gas industry to attract the world…and above all of the stability of the relationship and trust between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
The announcement of the offer on NewMed comes as Israel and the Emirates, which normalized diplomatic relations in 2020, signed a customs agreement on Sunday, the final step toward the entry into force of their 2022 free trade agreement, the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab country.
This offer is a testament to the confidence of international companies in the Israeli energy industry and the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries. BP and ADNOC’s $4 billion bid for a 50% stake in NewMed Energy is a strong signal that will propel the company from a regional to a global player.
