Israel's Tamar signs $750 mln natgas deal

JERUSALEM Jan 26 (Reuters) - A group developing the Tamar natural gas field off Israel's Mediterranean coast said it signed a $750 million deal to sell 3.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Hadera Paper over 15 years.

The partners said in a statement on Thursday the supply of 8 million MMBTU a year is slated to start in the second half of 2013.

The quantity supplied could be reduced if Hadera Paper does not build a new power plant as planned, they said.

The contract, which still needs various approvals, is Tamar's fourth so far in 2012 and follows deals with Ramat Negev Energy and Ashdod Energy - part-owned by Turkey's Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim - for $1.2 billion and Dalia Power for $5 billion.

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

Israeli companies had been expected to buy gas from Tamar and Egypt, but Egyptian supplies have become unreliable after the pipeline to Israel was blown up by militants 10 times in the past year, leading to supply disruptions.

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 4 percent.

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