The biggest deal in the history of the Israeli economy is underway: The Israel Electric Corporation on Thursday received permission from the company's board of directors to purchase natural gas from the Tamar gas field, located some 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Haifa.
The deal is estimated at $10-20 billion for the next 15 years.
The Tamar gas field is owned by several partners, led by the Delek Group controlled by businessman Yitzhak Tshuva and American company Noble Energy.
According to estimates, starting in 2013, the Tamar drilling will produce natural gas at a sufficient quantity to meet the State of Israel's energy needs for 15 to 20 years.
And not a minute too soon.Early this morning, the gas line from Egypt to Israel and Jordan was firebombed for the tenth time this year.
Other, much larger gas fields off Israel's coast should be going live over the next decade, potentially enabling Israel to be an exporter of energy.