Israel’s partners in the Leviathan Gas Field, are on the point of signing a $30b deal with BG for the export of gas to Egypt. According to sources, the deal is to be entered into before the purchase of Shell by BG in late January.

The companies had in June 2014 signed a letter of intent to export 105 billion cubic meters of gas for 15 years from the Leviathan field to BG’s LNG facility in Idku, Egypt.

This agreement would signify the selling of approximately 17% of Leviathan’s reserves and will also assist in financing the development of the field.

However, as a result of regulatory problems mostly in Israel, the partners are yet to sign a final agreement. But a senior source in one of the gas companies confirmed that the final contract will be signed in Q1 of 2016.

The alteration in the Natural Gas Law incorporated in the Economic Arrangements Bill which was passed in November, has assisted in improving the completion of the gas export deal. The Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources under this altered Gas Law, is eligible to award a license for the construction of a pipeline for the exportation of natural gas to a foreign company without a tender, Egypt Oil and Gas News reports.

The altered Natural Gas Law is to also allow BG to construct a single pipeline from the Leviathan field through Cyprus’s Aphrodite reservoir to Egypt.