Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has taken a major role on the first contract to export gas from offshore Israel to a company in Palestine.

The US firm's London office is representing Palestine Power Generation Company (PPGC) in a $1.2bn (£730m) deal to buy 4.75bn cubic meters of natural gas from the Leviathan gas field over a 20-year period.

PPGC will use the gas to fuel a power plant the company is developing in Jenin, which will in turn help to generate electricity across the West Bank.

The deal, which was signed on Sunday (5 January), was hailed by Akin Gump and the parties involved as a "significant sign of cooperation between Israel and Palestine and an important step in the ongoing peace process".

Akin Gump energy partners John LaMaster and Marc Hammerson, along with associate Caroline-Lucy Moran, are advising PPGC for the deal. James-Antony Platania of PPGC shareholder Consolidated Contractors is also acting as in-house counsel for the Palestinian company.

LaMaster and Hammerson, who joined Akin Gump as part of a team move from Dewey & Leboeuf in April 2012, are also advising on the development of the $300m (£183m) power plant.

Israeli firm Agmon & Co, Rosenberg Hacohen & Co, fielding a team led by partner Dan Hacohen, is advising for the consortium of US and Israeli sellers, which include Noble Energy, the Delek Group and Ratio Oil.

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