Israel received bids from two groups of companies to explore for oil and gas off its Mediterranean coast, the Energy Ministry said on Monday.
Israel had offered rights to 19 offshore blocks, and said the groups offered to explore in 12 of them.
The first group was made up of British companies Cairn Energy, SOCO International and Israel's Ratio Oil. The second consortium included Energean and Israel Opportunity.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Tova Cohen)