Energean Oil & Gas has been awarded contracts to supply up to 23 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to private Israeli power plants.

It will supply the gas to Dalia Power and Or Power from its Tanin and Karish gas fields, reported Reuters. While Dalia Power is the operator of the largest private power station in the country, OR Power is in the process of building new power projects.

Financial aspects of the contracts were not disclosed.

Energean CEO Mathios Rigas was quoted by the publication as saying: "The agreement is a substantial step towards bringing competition and cheaper energy to the market for the benefit of Israeli consumers and the country’s economy.”

The Greek developer, Energean had acquired the Tanin and Karish gas fields from Israeli firm Delek Group in December last year in a deal that was close to $150m.

Earlier in the year, Energean revealed its plans to make an investment of up to $1.5bn to construct a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for developing the two gas and condensate fields.

The two fields are located in the north of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and in water depths of more than 1,700m. Production at the Tanin and Karish gas fields is likely to begin production in 2020.

Put together, the two Israeli gas fields have been estimated to have over 20 million barrels of light oil and gas resources of 2.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

Last week, Energean inked a lease agreement with the Greek government for the Aitoloakarnania block. The company will undertake exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons found in the underdeveloped onshore block in the western part of Greece.