Following last week's the High Court of Justice hearing on exports of natural gas, this morning, the state gave its response to the court, and agreed that the hearing should be conducted as though a conditional injunction had been handed down, and before a larger panel of judges. At the same time, the state requested the court to hold the hearing on the petition on gas exports as soon as possible. At stake is whether the government has the authority to decide how much of Israel's gas reserves, if any, may be exported, or whether the matter should be debated, and decided, by the Knesset. The government decided in June to allow 40% of Israel's gas to be exported.
The petition to have the decision referred to the Knesset was filed by several organizations, among them the Academic Center of Law and Business and the Israel Energy Forum, alongside Knesset members Shelly Yachimovich, leader of the Labor Party, Avishay Braverman (also Labor), Reuven Rivlin (Likud) and Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism).
Last Thursday, President of the Supreme Court Judge Asher Grunis proposed that the petition should be heard before an expanded panel of judges, because of its importance.
The gas exploration companies are tensely awaiting the court's decision, as uncertainty has been generated in area critical to the industry's future. The holders of the rights in the Leviathan gas reserve have been threatening that they will be unable to raise finance for developing the reserve unless they can export gas from it. Australian company Woodside is expected to withdraw from its intention of buying 30% of the rights in the reserve for $1.25 billion if the government's decision is overturned or if implementation of it is substantially delayed.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 5, 2013
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