Israel: New gas competitor fails to appease competition concerns

While Israel’s Antitrust Authority is preparing to announce a new market entrant to boost competition in the oil and gas exploration industry, reports say the plans are not likely to appease the concerns of many.

Reports say Antitrust Authority head David Gilo will soon announce that the two main players in Israel’s gas industry, Delek Group and Noble Energy, have agreed to divest certain assets to firms entering the market. But the new competitor, say reports, will own less than 8 percent of market share in the nation’s natural gas reserves.

Further, the new competitor will not enter the market for another two years, perpetuating fears that the two gas firms will secure control over the market in that time.

Gilo vowed to break up the dominance of Deke and Noble Energy over the nation’s oil industry two years ago. The companies together own 67 percent of the Tamar gas field and 85 percent of the Leviathan gas field; Tamar and Leviathan make up 90 percent of Israel’s oil reserves, say reports.

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