Israel gas driller eyes LNG deal with Daewoo

JERUSALEM Nov 14 (Reuters) - A partner in offshore-Israel gas drilling has signed a preliminary deal to build and operate a floating liquefied natural gas facility for exports to South Korea and elsewhere.

Isramco made the deal with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, it said on Monday in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The Tamar field, the world's largest offshore find of 2009, is being developed some 90 km from Israel's coast, but production there is not expected to begin until 2013, officials say. The even larger nearby Leviathan field is not due to be on line until about 2017.

U.S.-based Noble Energy leads the consortium drilling for gas off Israel's Mediterranean coast that also includes Delek Drilling, Avner Oil & Gas, Isramco and Alon Natrual Gas.

Isramco said its partners had not yet signed on to the deal with Daewoo and until then the deal will not come into effect.

The companies would then enter talks to secure a contract for 15 to 20 years at a price likely to be between $7 and $9 per MMBTU, in which the floating LNG terminal would liquefy 3 billion to 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The terminal would take three to four years to build.

Last month, state-owned Israel Natural Gas Lines signed a deal with Italy's Micoperi to build an off-shore LNG gas terminal for about $140 million.

Globally, floating LNG terminals have also grown in popularity as gas companies can avoid expensive pipes to an offshore liquefaction plant. (Reporting by Steven Scheer)