Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Israel’s Antitrust Commissioner David Gilo said he would step down from his position to protest a compromise framework on natural gas policy that he says will not lead to competition.

“My decision to step down stems from a number of reasons, but the foremost being that the government will do what it can to promote a framework on natural gas policy that I am convinced will not lead to competition in this important market,” Gilo, who has been in the post since April 2011, said in an e-mailed statement. He said his resignation would take effect at the end of August.

The development of Israel’s largest natural gas field Leviathan halted after Gilo said in December he was considering issuing a restriction of trade ruling on the partners in Leviathan, including Houston, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. and Delek Group Ltd. An inter-ministerial panel has been negotiating a compromise natural gas policy framework with the companies ever since. The latest draft envisages Delek and Noble reducing their stakes in smaller offshore fields while leaving the partnership in Leviathan intact, a framework with which Gilo disagreed.

“I have informed the companies and the other government offices that I cannot be part of this latest framework,” Gilo said. “But it has been made clear to me in the past few days that the government will do all it can to promote it. I hope they will change their mind.”

Shares in Delek Group Ltd. jumped as much as 3.8 percent on Monday and were trading 2.5 percent higher at 1:24 p.m. in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv Oil & Gas index advanced 1.7 percent to the highest since Nov. 30.

“The resignation of Gilo means that the framework that has been talked about is that which will be promoted and that is a better one for the companies than what Gilo wanted,” Noam Pincu, an analyst at Tel Aviv-based Psagot Investment House Ltd., said by phone. “This is good for the shares.”

Israel’s two largest offshore natural gas fields, Leviathan and Tamar, in which Delek and Noble are the biggest shareholders, hold an estimated 32 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to supply the country for decades and earn export revenue. The delay has pushed off supply deadlines and endangered pending export deals, including to Egypt and Jordan.