Without any special announcements, the quantity of natural gas that Israel will export to Jordan is likely to rise substantially, starting next year, according to the reports published yesterday by Tamar Petroleum Ltd. (TASE:TMRP) In October, the Tamar partners signed another agreement to supply gas to Jordanian customers Jordan Bromine Company and Arab Potash Company.
The interruptible agreement is for up to 1 BCM, meaning that the Jordanians are not obligated to buy the entire amount. The deal, whose value is likely to reach $200 million, will go into effect in the first quarter of 2019 and continue until the supply termination date in the 15-year agreement signed by the companies in 2017, i.e. until the end of 2032. The agreement can become a binding agreement. Jordan has no energy resources itself; it currently buys liquefied gas from Qatar at high prices, so Israeli gas can be a worthwhile alternative for the country.
Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Noble Energy founded Tamar Petroleum as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in 2017 for buying 9.25% of the rights in the Tamar reservoir. After this deal was completed in March, Tamar Petroleum bought 7.5% more of the rights, giving it a current holding of 16.75% in the reservoir.
The results for the third quarter reported yesterday by Tamar Petroleum were affected by the recent purchase of additional rights. The company's revenue, excluding royalties, totaled $190.3 million in the first nine months of 2018, a 72% increase, compared with $110.6 million in the corresponding period last year. The increase is attributable mainly to $76.6 million in revenue from the newly acquired rights, excluding royalties.
Operating profit in January-September amounted to $140.7 million, compared with $87.7 million in the corresponding period in 2017, a 60% increase. Operating profit in the third quarter amounted to $57.3 million, compared with $31.4 million in the third quarter of 2017. Pro forma operating profit in the quarter was up 3.4% to $55.4 million.
Tamar Petroleum posted a $33 million net profit in the third quarter, 80% more than in the corresponding quarter last year. Net profit for the first nine months of 2018 totaled $72.3 million, 2% lower than in January-September 2017.
Tamar Petroleum's market cap is NIS 1.5 billion, after the share fell 5% over the past year.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 19, 2018
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