The officials said late Monday that the council will also ask that an offshore option be reconsidered instead of an onshore terminal. The offshore option was rejected earlier.

The decision was due to have been taken Tuesday. The delay is seen as a victory for environmental groups and the Hof Hacarmel regional council that had been campaigning against locating the terminal along the central Mediterranean coast at Dor. The council has been considering six onshore options for location of the terminal.

Israeli energy industry sources said that Monday's decision would further delay development of the Tamar field and the delivery of gas to Israeli customers. Noble Energy Inc and its Israeli partners Delek Exploration, Avner Oil and Gas, Isramco and Dor Gas have set a 2012 target for delivering gas from the field.

The National Infrastructure Ministry has estimated that the gas will not reach the market before 2014.

Last month, Petroleum Development Consultants Ltd estimated that the cost of producing natural gas from the Tamar field located off Israel's northern Mediterranean coast is at least $1 billion higher than estimates by the partners. The report by PDC was done for Israel's Natural Gas Authority at the National Infrastructure Ministry.

The PDC study estimated that the total cost of production and delivery of gas from Tamar to customers in Israel at $3.8 billion, compared with the $2.8 billion estimate by the Tamar partners. The report said that the cost could be even higher by $200 million-250 million if the onshore receiving terminal is not located at Dor, but at the existing terminal in Ashdodor at an offshore terminal.

The pressure at Tamar, which is among the highest in the world, is the major reason for the higher-than-expected cost of developing the field. The PDC report said the pressure issue will require construction of an offshore facility to reduce the gas pressure before its arrival onshore, in addition to the onshore gas pressure reduction facility at the receiving terminal.

PDC also said that the need for the offshore facility could delay the delivery of gas to the Israeli market until 2015.

In March, Noble Energy chairman and CEO Charles Davidson said the final cost of developing Tamar would depend on the location of the onshore receiving terminal. Davidson said that the field will be completely subsea with the wells all along the ocean floor. Plans call for initially drilling five wells with a daily production of 150,000 Mcf each at Tamar. The field has estimated reserves of 238 billion cubic meters.

Israel's Natural Gas Authority director Shuki Stern said a delay in delivery of natural gas from the Tamar field could cost the Israeli economy $700 million annually.

--Neal Sandler, newsdesk@platts.com