Gas and oil exploration partnership Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP (TASE: ISOP.L) announced this morning that it was increasing its holding in the Pelagic licenses. The partnership said that, under an agreement it had reached with Eden Energy Discoveries Ltd. (TASE: EDN), which bought control of Frendum Investments Ltd. from Teddy Sagi, a further 6% of the rights in the licenses held by Frendum will be transferred to it. 17.5% will be transferred to Beny Steinmetz's Nammax Oil & Gas Ltd.

Following the transfers, Israel Opportunity will hold 16% of the rights in the licenses, Nammax 60%, Frendum 10%, Daden Investment 9%, and AGR Petroleum Services Holdings AS 5%.

Israel Opportunity CEO Eyal Shuker said, "Israel Opportunity's risk diversification strategy has proved itself, and Israel Opportunity is consequently one of the few partnerships with a large cash reserve that enables it to expand its holdings in the licenses, at minimal cost. We believe that the potential of the reserves in our region is great, and that particularly today, with the sector suffering from negative momentum and underpricing, there is an opportunity to expand assets at low cost. We are long-term players, and act accordingly."

The Pelagic licenses consist of six licenses stretching over a total of some 500,000 acres in the Mediterranean Sea about 170 kilometers west of Haifa, and bordering on the Gal and Ratio-Yam licenses where the Leviathan structure is located, and on Noble Energy's Block 12 off Cyprus. One of the licenses is the Ishai license, which was considered the main Israeli asset of Pelagic Exploration Company, and the most likely to contain gas. It has an estimated 3.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas with a 76.7% geological chance of success.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 19, 2015

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