חוק משק הגז הטבעי (תיקון מס' 13), התשפ"ד-2023Law on Natural Gas Economy (Amendment No. 13), 2023 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law includes two amendments to the Natural Gas Sector Law, 2002 (hereinafter – the Natural Gas Sector Law). The first amendment concerns granting the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure the authority to extend the license of Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. (INGL), the government company that currently holds a transmission license, which is a license to establish and operate a natural gas transmission system. Section 8(b) of the Natural Gas Sector Law stipulates that licenses, including a transmission license or a distribution license, shall not be granted to a government company. However, Section 11a of the said Law authorizes the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure to grant a transmission license to a government company if he finds that there are urgent needs of the energy sector. Under that section, a transmission license was granted to INGL in 2004. According to Section 15 of the Natural Gas Sector Law, the maximum period of a transmission license is 30 years. Accordingly, the transmission license granted to INGL will remain valid until 2034. Under the first amendment, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure will be authorized to extend the validity of the transmission license granted to a government company holding a transmission license under Section 11a of the Law, currently INGL, for one additional period of 15 years. The second amendment is intended to allow INGL to enter activity in the distribution segment and to grant it a distribution license, subject to several conditions. A distribution license is a license granted for a specific area, for the establishment and operation of a distribution network, which is a system of pipelines for transporting natural gas at low pressure and the gas facilities connected to that system. Prior to the amendment, the Law allowed the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure to grant a distribution license only to a subsidiary of a transmission license holder, provided that, in his opinion and that of the Minister of Finance, there were urgent needs of the energy sector. Under the amendment, a government company that has received a transmission license will also be able to receive a distribution license from the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, subject to several conditions. First, such a distribution license will be granted if the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure are convinced that, for the purpose of developing the energy sector, it is not appropriate to grant the license to a private sector entity and it is more suitable to grant it to a government company. Second, in order to prevent concentration in the sector, such a distribution license will not be granted in a particular area if, as a result, a government company would hold distribution licenses in three areas or in half of all the areas for which distribution licenses have already been granted, whichever is higher.

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