Delek Drilling announced this morning that the board of its general partner had decided to distribute a $180 million dividend. This is the first distribution of profits by the energy exploration partnership since its merger with Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L). It represents a dividend yield of 13% over the past twelve months. Participation units in the merged partnership began to be traded a week ago. RELATED ARTICLES Few takers for Israel's new gas exploration tenders Delek units to offer 10% of Tamar Isramco shareholders to earn unexpected dividend Leviathan 7 drilling to start soon Since 2014, the Delek Drilling partnership has distributed a cumulative $830 million, plus $100 million advance tax payments on behalf of its investors. The dividend declaration comes at the same time as the release of the merged partnership's financial statements for the first quarter of 2017, showing a profit of $78.9 million. Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu said, "Alongside continued investment in exploration and development, particularly in the development of the Leviathan reservoir, we will continued to be punctilious about producing value for investors through profit distributions in accordance with our obligations under the partnership agreement and with the distribution criteria under the law. We expect that the sale of rights in the Tamar reservoir will enable us to make a substantial distribution to Delek Drilling investors." Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2017 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017
