Tamar partners intent on selling Israeli gas to Egypt

The partnership in control of one of the largest natural gas basins off the coast of Israel announced their intention to sign an export deal with Egypt.

The consortium in charge of the Tamar natural gas field, led by Texas company Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group, said Sunday they're negotiating the sale of at least 175 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year over the next three years with Egyptian buyer Dolphinus Holdings Ltd.

The partners managing Tamar estimate the field holds as much as 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Gas from Tamar would run through a pipeline system managed by Israel Gas lines to Ashkelon and then through a system managed by East Mediterranean Gas Ltd. for marketing to customers in Egypt.

Delek said gas sent from Tamar would be "interruptible," or designated only from excess reserves from the offshore field. The company said the gas price under the terms of any formal deal would be pegged to Brent crude oil prices.

The partners managing Tamar announced Jordanian companies Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine secured a total gross quantity of 66 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the field in early 2014.