Israel Signs 15-year Natural Gas Deal With Jordan

REUTERS - Israel will sign a deal to supply natural gas from its Leviathan field to Jordan for 15 years, Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom said on Wednesday.

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Shalom said the agreement comes after many meetings with Jordanian officials but gave no other details.

An industry official who asked not to be identified said the deal was worth about $15 billion.

Leviathan, which holds an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of gas, is controlled by Noble Energy and two units of the Delek Group.

Noble and Delek declined to comment although a Delek Drilling spokesman confirmed that senior officials from Delek and Noble were in Jordan.