The story
Founded by Delek Group Ltd. in 1993, in Israel.1
NewMed Energy (formerly "Delek Drilling") was founded by Avinoam Finkelman and served as the search department of the Delek group, then controlled by the IDB group. The partnership was founded with an agreement signed on July 1, 1993, between Delek Drilling Management (1993) Ltd as a general partner and Delek Drilling Trusts Ltd as a limited partner. The partnership's holdings include Yam Tethys Ltd, Delek Drilling (Leviathan Finance) Ltd, Delek Drilling (Yam Tethys Finance) Ltd, Delek and Avner Yam Tethys Ltd and Delek Drilling (Tamar Finance) Ltd.
In 1998, Yitzhak Tshuva, a self-made multi-billionaire, purchased control of Delek group, from the Recanati family.
In December 2016 the general meeting of Delek Drilling and Avner gas and oil search (both units of conglomerate Delek Group) decided on the merge of the two. In May 2017 the Merging process was completed when Avner was immersed into Delek Drilling. This established the position of Delek Drilling as the leading search body in Israel.
The participating units of the partnership are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and it is considered one of the ten largest bodies of trade in the Tel Aviv Stock exchange market.
In October 2017, Delek Drilling and the Russian Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly examine the possibilities of using natural gas as a fuel for vehicles and special equipment in Israel.
In February 2022, as part of a rebranding process, the company changed its name from Delek Drilling to NewMed Energy. At the same time, New Med Energy updated its strategy, which includes, in addition to the exploration and production of natural gas in the Mediterranean, the establishment of an activity of alternative energies, the deepening of regional ties and more.
In January 2026, it was announced that NewMed Energy had agreed to sell a 5 per cent participating interest in the Han Asparuh offshore exploration block in the Bulgarian Black Sea to Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD. The agreement followed a directive from the Bulgarian parliament and remained conditional on government approval and revisions to the project’s joint operating agreement.
The Gas Framework
In December 2015, the Israeli Government approved the Natural Gas Framework, which constitutes a comprehensive regulation. Main principles of the Framework was that Delek must sell all their rights in the small fields Tanin and Karish within a specified 14 month timeframe. Delek Group must sell all of its rights in the Tamar field and Noble Energy must sell at least 11% of its rights by December 2021.
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In 2016, Karish and Tanin Gas reserves were sold to Energean Energean Oil & Gas. The deal followed the natural gas framework requiring Delek Drilling and Noble Energy to sell these two reservoirs, which contain 60 BCM of gas, for $148 million.
In 2017, sale of 9.25% of the holdings of Delek Drilling in the Tamar reservoir to the Tamar Petroleum partnership was completed for $980 million.
In February 2018, a deal worth over 15 billion dollars, was signed with the Egyptian company Dolphinos which includes the sale of gas for 10 years and a total amount of 64 BCM.
New Med Energy's compliance with the Gas Framework was finally completed in 2021, with the signing of an agreement to sell its holdings in the Tamar gas reservoir (22%) to the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Petroleum Company for approximately one billion dollars.
From Wikipedia’s article on NewMed Energy, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4