Paz Ashdod Oil Refinery, a subsidiary of Israel's Paz Oil Company Ltd., announced Thursday that it has signed a natural gas supply deal with the Leviathan partners. Leviathan, discovered in 2010 in the Mediterranean Sea 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of Haifa, holds an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and is considered one of the world's largest offshore discoveries of the past decade. According to the deal, Leviathan will supply Paz with 3.12 billion cubic meters of natural gas over a period of up to 15 years. The estimated financial scope of the deal is $700 million, assuming Paz needs the amount of gas determined in the contract. Still, a number of other factors, including tariffs and crude oil prices, may affect this figure, Globes reported. According to the report, Bini Zomer, the country manager of Leviathan partner Noble Energy Israel, said of the deal: "This additional Leviathan contract signifies our continued commitment to supplying the domestic market and brings us another step closer to a final investment decision."
