Israeli gas proposals blocked

Israel’s High Court has blocked the government’s controversial proposal to regulate the natural gas industry, reports Bloomberg, complicating plans to develop the country’s largest field and its ability to conclude new export deals. The court objected to the socalled ‘stability clause’ that would have prevented major regulatory changes for 10 years, and had been inserted to encourage investment. The court gave the government, which denounced the ruling, a year to revise its plan.

The Israeli government’s failure to craft an approved regulatory framework for the industry since the fields were discovered six years ago has held up development of the largest reserve, Leviathan, impeding export deals and anatagonising investors. Israel’s offshore gas fields are held by a small number of companies headed by Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group.