Noble Energy to sell part of its stake in Israel's Tamar gas field

(Reuters) - Noble Energy Inc will sell a 7.5 percent stake in the Tamar natural gas field offshore Israel to Tamar Petroleum Ltd for about $800 million in cash and shares, the U.S. oil and gas producer said.

Noble will receive $560 million in cash and 38.5 million shares of Tamar Petroleum.

The deal allows Noble to cut its holdings in Israel’s only commercial gas field to 25 percent from 32.5 percent, complying with government plans to open the market to competition.

The assets being sold produced about 62 million cubic feet equivalent per day of natural gas in 2017, Houston-based Noble said.

The deal follows an initial sale by Noble of 3.5 percent of the Tamar field in mid-2016. Combined proceeds from both deals amount to nearly $1.25 billion, of which almost $1 billion will be in cash, Noble said.

(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D‘Silva and Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

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