Reuters: Israel's Security Cabinet Approves Gas Deal with Noble, Delek

Israel's security cabinet voted on Thursday in favour of a plan to let a U.S.-Israeli energy group keep control of most of the country's natural gas deposits, but also put some others up for sale.

The decision is set to end months of uncertainty and will likely to be welcomed by Texas-based Noble Energy and Israeli conglomerate Delek Group. Their control of two sizeable gas fields was put in doubt late last year when the anti-trust regulator branded them a monopoly.

Details of the agreement have yet to be made public, but industry sources have said Noble and Delek will be allowed to keep control of Leviathan, the world's largest offshore gas discovery of the past decade.

"We are establishing a significantly more competitive market and putting in place mechanisms that will prevent price gouging," Eugene Kandel, a top economic adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who led negotiations with Noble and Delek, said on Army Radio.

The 10-member cabinet for security and diplomatic affairs was an unusual forum to handle a primarily economic issue, but it allowed Netanyahu greater control. After voting in favour of the proposal unanimously, the government is widely expected to approve it. MORE