Israel's parliament on Monday approved a controversial deal that would enable the development of three offshore natural gas fields, although regulatory hurdles still remain.
In a non-binding vote, lawmakers voted 59-51 in favour of an outline that would allow the large Leviathan gas field and two smaller ones to be developed by a consortium led by Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group.
But for the government and companies to move forward with the framework agreement, which was opposed by the antitrust regulator, parliament still needs to approve a measure that transfers power to override the regulator from the Economy Ministry to the cabinet.
It was unclear when such a vote will take place.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Tova Cohen)
