Israel's Dalia to buy $5 bln in natgas from Tamar

TEL AVIV Jan 9 (Reuters) - The partners developing the Tamar field off Israel's Mediterranean coast reached an agreement to sell Dalia Power Energies up to 1.38 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually over 17 years for the operation of a private power plant.

The partners in Tamar said on Monday the revenue from the contract would total about $5 billion, based on estimates for the price of gas during the period.

The deal is subject to Dalia closing the necessary financing as well as the approval of the anti-trust authority.

The partners expect to begin supplying gas to Dalia, which is building Israel's largest private power plant, in the second half of 2014.

Last month Israel's state-owned electric utility Israel Electric Corp agreed to buy natural gas worth $8 billion from the partners in Tamar.

That deal was for an estimated 3 bcm of gas a year for 15 years starting in mid-2013.

A group led by Texas-based Noble Energy is developing the Tamar prospect, which contains an estimated 9.1 trillion cubic feet of gas. A nearby site, Leviathan, is nearly twice as large and due to be online around 2017.

Noble holds 36 percent of Tamar. Isramco Negev owns 28.75 percent, Avner Oil Exploration and Delek Drilling hold 15.625 percent each and Dor Gas Exploration has a 4 percent stake.

Delek Drilling and Avner are both part of the Delek Group conglomerate.