On 19 March 2019, Delek Drilling Ltd Partnership announced that it had reached agreement with Noble Energy Mediterranean Ltd whereby Noble will transfer a 25% interest and operatorship of the Alon D (367) offshore exploration licence to Delekâs wholly-owned subsidiary Ithaca Energy Inc. Noble will also transfer its remaining 22.059% interest to Delek Drilling effectively ending its participation in the licence. The transaction is subject to receipt of all necessary approvals, including that of the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner. Following completion of the transaction, the partners in the licence will be Ithaca Energy (25%, operator) and Delek Drilling (75%).   Noble Energy and Delek Drilling had been awarded a 32 month extension for the offshore Alon D (367) licence by the Ministry of Energy on 21 August 2017. The licence had originally expired in March 2016 but an appeal was subsequently launched by the joint venture partners. The extension was conditional on a number of terms: (i) the partners must clarify to the Petrolum Commissioner that they acknowledge that there are still circumstances preventing drilling in the area, (ii) the partners must undertake an environmental survey in the next 18 months and (iii) the partners must ratify their commitment to drilling. Noble was originally awarded the 400 sq km licence in the Levantine Basin on 1 March 2009. There are currently no exploratory wells drilled within the contract.
Balang International, part of the China Changcheng Natural Gas Power Group, has purchased Repsolâs upstream assets in the country. The deal involves 41% of the discovered contingent resources in the Stanley, Elevala-Ketu, Ubuntu and Puk Puk/Douglas g&cond. fields in Western Province of up to 2,5 Tcf of gas and 70 MMb cond.