Natural gas drilling site off Haifa coast
Photo: Reuters
HSBC extends $250M loan to gas explorers
Delek Drilling, Avner Oil Exploration receive combined loan from international bank for development of Tamar, Leviathan natural gas sites and other expenses
Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration said on Sunday they have received a combined $250 million loan from HSBC for the development
of the Tamar and Leviathan natural gas sites and other expenses.
The Tamar prospect, which contains an estimated 8.4 trillion cubic feet of gas, is due online in 2013 with natural gas from Tamar expected to supply Israel's gas needs for more than 15 years.
Delek and Avner, units of conglomerate Delek Group, are part of a group led by US-based Noble Energy developing natural gas wells off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
Upward Adjustment
Shay Salinas, Calcalist
Gas field's new estimate stands at 14-20 TCF as compared with 10.5-21 TCF six months ago. Ratio's share loses previously gained 5% following report
A nearby site, Leviathan, is nearly twice as large and due to be online around 2017.
The non-recourse loan to Delek and Avner will be in two parts, the companies said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange – a $75 million loan that will be available after meeting a number of conditions and a $175 million loan for the Tamar project and repayment of a bridge loan.
The loans are variable interest and pay LIBOR plus 3.5-4%.
Noble holds 36% of Tamar, while Delek and Avner own 15.625% each and Isramco Negev holds 28.75%.
The reliance on Israeli gas has intensified this year as supplies from Egypt have been erratic as militants have attacked the pipeline between Egypt and Israel 10 times.
