Arye Dery, Israel’s minister of the economy, supported the deal but refused to comment on whether he plans to employ a section of the country’s anti-trust law that gives him the ability to overrule the decision and declare the consortium a cartel.

“This does not mean that Noble Energy (of Houston, Texas) will walk away from such promising property”, Landau explained, adding: “The story is very simple – it would become impossible to raise and invest the necessary billions without which we will continue to ramble on, but the gas will stays at the bottom of the sea”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told recently: “The agreement will bring in hundreds of billions of shekels (tens of billions of dollars) to Israeli citizens over the coming years”. “The true interests of the State of Israel require the passage of this outline as quickly as possible”. The move will allow the development of the nation’s Leviathan offshore gas field to resume.

The negotiations surrounding the deal have been highly controversial, with critics fearing it overly favours the companies involved.

Avi Gabbay the Minister of Environmental Protection did not vote in favor of the deal. The framework will now go for a final vote to parliament, where Netanyahu’s coalition holds a one-seat majority.

Tamar is already producing and Leviathan is expected online as well in that time.

The two sides have been wrangling over ownership and pricing of these offshore assets since December, when Israel’s antitrust commissioner considered designating the partnership between Delek Group and Houston-based Noble Energy Inc. a monopoly.

The sides also agreed that while the government will be bound to the agreement for 10 years, the Knesset will not be, and may vote on changes to it in the future.

Kulanu party leader Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has also said in recent days that he would oppose the deal if it didn’t include more stringent price controls.

The announcement of the deal marked a stark turnaround, merely a day after Minister Yuval Steinitz said the energy companies had “presented demands that we can’t accept”, primarily on the issue of an Israeli guarantee of “regulatory stability”.