Leviathan gas field & LNG terminals in Israel & Egypt respectively will soon be connected. This is after the governments of Israel and Egypt represented by Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and Egypt Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla agreed to build a pipeline to connect the Leviathan natural gas field offshore Israel to liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in northern Egypt, as part of a plan to expand the development of east Mediterranean natural gas.
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“The two ministers have agreed on the construction of an offshore gas pipeline from the Leviathan gas field to the liquefaction facilities in Egypt in order to increase the gas exports to Europe through the liquefaction facilities in Egypt,” said the office of Steinitz in a statement.
An overview of the Leviathan gas field
The Leviathan gas field is located approximately 130km off Israel’s coast. It exports gas to Jordan and Egypt and supplies the Israeli domestic market.
It is operated by Noble Energy, an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with a 39.66% stake in the field. Delek Group’s subsidiaries Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration each hold a 22.67% stake, while Ratio Oil Exploration owns 15% interest in the field.
Efforts to expand the field
In an effort to expand the field, the project partners have been considering options, including a floating LNG facility and a subsea pipeline.
The facility would be connected with LNG terminals, which are either idled or run at less than their potential capacity in the North African country. Additionally, the latter has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the Gaza Marine field located approximately 30km off the Palestinian enclave’s coast with the Leviathan gas field partners.
The Gaza Marine field project is planned to be developed by the Palestine Investment Fund, the sovereign fund of the Palestinian Authority, and the Consolidated Contractors Company.
