Israel's Delek considers London IPO for Leviathan and Aphrodite gas stake

Delek Drilling said on Monday it was considering listing its holdings in the Leviathan natural gas field off Israel’s Mediterranean coast on the London Stock Exchange as part of a corporate restructuring.

Delek Drilling, a unit of conglomerate Israel’s Delek Group, said it would retain its holdings in the Tamar and Dalit gas sites, also off Israel’s coast, under the plan being considered.

But it said other assets, including its stakes in the Leviathan and the Cyprus Aphrodite reservoirs, would be transferred to a new corporation to be listed in London, it said.

Delek holds 30% working interest in the Aphrodite natural gas field, located in exploratory Block 12 in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone.  

The Aphrodite field is located 160 km south of Limassol, and 30 km northwest of the Leviathan field, in an area where the sea depth is about 1,700 meters.

“The move will realise our vision of becoming a significant global oil and gas company,” CEO Yossi Abu said.

He said the move would “unlock value for investors and increase the value of the assets, while providing optimal access to equity and debt and enabling development of additional commercial channels in the region.”

Leviathan, discovered in 2010 about 120 km (75 miles) off Israel’s coast, is one of the world’s largest gas discoveries of the past decade. Production is expected to start later this year as Israel seeks to become energy independent.

The nearby Tamar gas field began producing in 2013.

The Leviathan project operator, Texas-based Noble Energy, owns a 39.66 percent stake. Delek Drilling holds 45.34 percent.

Delek said in November it would seek to spin off its remaining 22 percent of Tamar in 2019 after it spun off 9.25 percent into a new company called Tamar Petroleum in 2017. [Reuters]