Israeli energy minister Yuval Steinitz tells MEES that Israel plans to announce the winners of its latest bid round next week. It will be a short announcement. The only two bidders were Greek firm Energean, which holds the 3tcf combined Karish and Tanin fields and a consortium of Indian companies led by state oil firm ONGC Videsh (MEES, 24 November).
Why was there such a poor showing? Yigal Landau, CEO of Tel Aviv-based Ratio Oil, 15% partner in the Noble-operated 21 tcf Leviathan gas field, says the country needs to remove the barriers preventing oil companies from entering Israel. (CONTINUED - 1894 WORDS)
