Delek Drilling, which owns shares in both the Tamar and Leviathan offshore gas platforms notified the Israel Competition Commissioner Michal Halperin that is was nullifying its veto rights in the Tamar gas field after Halperin threatened sanctions against Delek’s managers, according to a report in Globes.
After Chevron’s took ownership of Noble Energy in the beginning of October, Chevron and Delek, which together own 47% of Tamar and 85% of Leviathan, used their veto to block the 53% majority of the Tamar partners from signing a new deal with the Israel Electric Company (IEC) that would have undercut the prices on the Leviathan field.
Chevron also then turned off the flow of gas from Tamar, forcing the IEC to buy gas from the higher-priced Leviathan fields, which is much more profitable for Chevron and Delek.
Delek is required to sell its shares in Tamar by 2021.
Chevron has yet to remove its veto, despite the ruling.
According to Globes, the Israel Competition Authority does not plan to back down from preventing a monopoly situation with Israel’s offshore gas.