The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and BP made a non-binding offer to acquire a stake in NewMed Energy, in an effort to exploit gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.

And “ADNOC” stated that it and “BP” offer to acquire the free-floating shares of “Newmed”, which amounts to 45%, and to acquire part of a share owned by the “Delek Limited” group, which will lead to the acquisition of “ADNOC” and “BP” 50%. % in “NewMed Energy”.

The value of the deal, which will lead to the delisting of “Newmed” from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, is estimated at about two billion dollars, according to Bloomberg. The two companies offered to pay 12.05 shekels for each Newmed share, which is 72% higher than the closing price of the company’s shares on the stock exchange last Sunday.

The company’s shares jumped during today’s trading on the Stock Exchange by more than 43%.

The two companies said they intend to establish a new joint venture focused on gas development in international regions of mutual interest, including the eastern Mediterranean.

The region has seen several major natural gas discoveries in the past 15 years, including in Israel, Cyprus and Egypt. These reserves have gained additional importance since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Europe desperately seeks to replace gas supplies from Moscow, which was considered its largest supplier before the invasion.

NewMed owns 45% of the Leviathan field, the largest gas field in Israel, and 30% of the Aphrodite field off Cyprus.

Delek Group owns 55% of the shares of Newmed, which was called Delek Drilling until it was rebranded early last year.

If approved, the deal would be ADNOC‘s first major international acquisition of a gas or oil-producing asset.

The UAE is seeking to expand its global capacity and increase spending to boost its production of oil and natural gas. ADNOC aims to invest $150 billion in 5 years until 2027, according to what the company announced at the end of last year.