Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on late Sunday that Israel high court's surprising ruling against gas agreement is a threat for Israel's economy.
After the announcement of high court's decision on Sunday, Netanyahu said in a written statement that the Supreme Court’s decision seriously threatens the development of the gas reserves of Israel.
"Israel is seen as a country with excessive judicial intervention, with which it is difficult to do business,” Netanyahu said.
According to the court's decision, the agreement for the development of natural gas fields in East Mediterranean, which was signed with American Noble Energy and Israeli Delek Group has contradictory parts such as "stability clause" in which Israel promises to make no substantial regulatory changes in the gas industry for the next 10 years, in particular for taxation, exports and ownership of the fields.
“Certainly there is nothing to celebrate about the fact that the gas may remain in the depths of the sea and hundreds of billions of shekels will not reach Israeli citizens as a result," said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu added "We will look for other ways to overcome the severe damage caused to the Israeli economy following this surprising ruling.”
The agreement was for the development of the Leviathan gas field which has 621 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, located off the coast of Israel’s third largest city, Haifa.
Noble Energy owns the biggest share with 39.66 percent of the Leviathan project, while Delek Drilling has a 22.67 percent interest and Avner Oil Exploration holds another 22.67 percent share.
By Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
muhsin.tiryakioglu@aa.com.tr