The Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources has reported a new NIS 411 million record in revenues from fees and royalties related to natural gas, oil and minerals in the first half of 2016.
The lion's share of these revenues was due to natural gas and oil royalties, a total of NIS 394 million in the first half of 2016. NIS 392 million royalties were received for a 4.5 BCM natural gas output at the Tamar gas field. This constitutes an impressive 12.8% rise from the corresponding period last year.
The rest of the sum, NIS 2 million, was oil production royalties. A further NIS 2.6 million were revenues from various fees and activities.
In the field of minerals, royalties increased significantly due to a change in legislation made in late 2015 following the recommendations of the Sheshinski 2 Committee. In the first half of 2016, mineral royalties totaled NIS 13.8 million, a 105% jump from NIS 6.7 million last year.
The Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources is expecting a further increase in royalty revenues in the coming years. The increase will follow from an expected rise in Tamar output, the development of the Leviathan gas field, as well as from the future development of fields already discovered, and further fields that might be discovered following the opening of the sea to exploration.
Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz said, "The increase in natural gas royalties significantly bolsters Israel's economy. Revenues are expected to rise even further in the next few years, among other things because of the development of the Leviathan field and the opening of the sea to further gas and oil exploration."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 16, 2016
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