US independent Noble Energy has chosen Golar LNG and Exmar to participate in a design contest on a large floating liquefied natural gas vessel for its 600 billion cubic metre Leviathan field off Israel, writes Iain Esau.

Leviathan partner Tel Aviv-listed Delek Drilling said separate interim agreements were signed with Golar and Exmar on 29 July.

The deal with Golar calls on the New York-listed player to assess the compatibility of a generic front-end engineering and design study the contractor has generated for application to Leviathan, as well as detailed engineering.