Israel increases efforts to develop natural gas exploration off its coast
Israel has emerged as a gas exporter over the last 15 years due to discovery of large offshore natural gas deposits
Israel’s Energy and Infrastructure Ministry has received nine bids from companies to explore and discover additional offshore natural gas fields.
The “scope of the proposals and the variety of bidders will lead to new companies conducting natural gas exploration in Israel’s economic waters,” according to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Energy on Sunday.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stressed that “energy is power” and will benefit all residents of Israel.
The proposed tender is reportedly intended to create more competition in the market and to encourage the signing of additional gas export agreements, which will result in higher state revenues.
Of the nine companies which have submitted bids for Israel’s latest tender to explore new gas fields, five have reportedly never operated in the Israeli market.
“Energy is power, and the revenues generated for the local economy will be reinvested for the benefit of Israeli citizens,” Katz said.
“The current process will increase competition and stability in supply to the local energy market, strengthen Israel’s geopolitical position in the region and Europe, and enable the signing of additional natural gas export agreements – to turn Israel into an energy bridge connecting East and West.”
This is Israel’s fourth round of offshore bidding to explore natural gas fields in the last six years.
During the last decade and a half, large deposits of natural gas have been found off the shores of Israel, which have turned Israel into a gas exporter.
Israel began to export natural gas to Egypt in 2020 from the Leviathan field, currently the nation’s largest natural gas field. Leviathan is located about 81 miles off the shores of Haifa and began pumping gas in 2019.
In December, Israeli firm NewMed Energy, a gas and oil exploration and production company, signed a deal with Morocco to explore potential reserves off the Moroccan coast. The agreement marked another success in the normalization of relations between Israel and various Arab nations following the Abraham Accords.
One year ago, Egypt and the European Union signed a three-way agreement with Israel, which led to Israel exporting natural gas to the EU for the first time.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
