The Petroleum Council of Israel has announced its approval of the acquisition of 100% of theKarish and Tanin Natural Gas Fields by Energean Oil & Gas ("Energean” or "the Company”)from  Delek  Drilling  and  Avner.  The  transaction,  estimated  to  be  valued  at  $148m,  is  beingimplemented as part of the Israeli Government’s Gas Framework  Strategy.  The  Karish  andTanin Fields, discovered in 2013 and 2011 respectively, have 2C gas resources of circa 2.4TCF.

Energean  will  now  proceed  towards  completion  of  the  transaction,  and  within  six  months  willsubmit to the Israeli authorities a FieldDevelopment Plan (FDP) for both fields. The Companyintends  to  produce  first  gas  in  2020.  The  development  of  Karish  and  Tanin  is  expected  toinvolve an investment of circa $1bn over the next few years.

Commenting on the approval, Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean, said:  "We are delighted to have received  the  approval  of  the  Israeli  Government  on  this  transaction  and  for  their  swift consideration of the matter. The acquisition of Karish and Tanin and their development is a significant step for Energean, but itis also a big milestone for Israel in developing its gas strategy, by bringing competition in the local market. Energean is committed to delivering a mutually beneficial and successful development and gas sales programme as partners with the Israeli Government.”

"Karish and Tanin will supply the Israeli domestic market for many years and we are eager to press ahead with its development as soon as possible. We will be submitting a comprehensive Field Development Plan within six months of closing the transaction, and will be selecting our proposed contracting partners in the near future. We will also be starting negotiations with potential gas users and are confident that we can deliver competitive gas prices and services for the Israeli consummers.”

The Karish and Tanin FDP is the third FDP that Energean is committed to over the next few years with development programmes being prepared for the Epsilon (North Aegean Sea) and West Katakolon (Western Greece/Ionian Sea) with combined 2P reserves of circa 25 million barrels. Katakolon was approved to move into development by the Greek Government in late November. Energean has additional exploration acreage in Western Greece, Montenegro and Egypt. The Company anticipates an investment of around $1.3billion in exploration and development (including Karish and Tanin) over the next 5 years.