Azerbaijan and Israel have signed a deal to search for natural gas in Israel’s economic waters in the country’s first drilling operation outside its own territory, Globes reported Friday.
The tender, awarded in 2023, was postponed due to the Iron Swords War launched against Israel by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7, 2023.
Under the agreement, the Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR) will team with British Petroleum (BP) and NewMed Energy, run by Yitzhak Tshuva (NWMD), to search Block I in the northwest sector of Israeli economic waters. The consortium is required to submit a plan by October 2026 to drill in at least one of the licenses in the block, along with an additional work plan to be approved by Israel’s petroleum commissioner.
The new consortium is set to sign a work plan in two weeks with Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
This is not the first time Azerbaijan has signed a gas deal with Israel: earlier this year, SOCAR purchased a five percent stake in the Tamar gas field from Israeli businessman Aaron Frenkel, who owned a ten percent stake prior to the sale.
Israel is the sixth largest market for Azeri oil exports. Azerbaijan was also responsible for more than nine percent of all Israeli defense exports between 2018 and 2022.
Azerbaijan is also the largest foreign investor in Turkey; more than 10,000 people in the country are employed by SOCAR’s subsidiary there.
