Australian oil firm Woodside Petroleum has missed its deadline for completing a deal to buy a stake in Israel’s Leviathan gas field.
The signing of an agreement for a $2.7billion stake in the prospect was due on March 27, but was delayed by the Australian major over tax concerns on export volumes.
Earlier this week the Israeli government outlined its preferred regime for taxing the exports, which did not match Woodside expectations from the initial accord 15 months earlier, according to market analysts.
But the Australian firm said it was continuing talks with the Israeli government “with a view to resolving the remaining issues and executing definitive agreements,” the company said in a statement.
In February Woodside agreed to pay an initial $850million for a 25% stake in the prospect from Noble Energy, who is the largest shareholder in the field, and will retain 30%interest following the farm-out.
Leviathan field is the biggest Israeli gas find, with an estimated 18.9 trillion cubic feet of reserves and is due to start producing in 2017. Avner Oil Exploration, Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil Exploration are the remaining shareholders.