All about Tamar, the gas field stopped by Israel
Israel has suspended operations at the Tamar gas field, fearing attacks from the Gaza Strip. The field is not only important for Israeli needs, but also for Egypt and – consequently – for Europe. All the details
On Monday, three days after the Hamas offensive from the Gaza Strip, Israel suspended activities at the important Tamar gas field in the Mediterranean Sea for security reasons.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TAMAR FOR ISRAEL AND BEYOND
Tamar contributes significantly to Israel's electricity and industrial demand: for this reason the government has specified that alternative fuel sources will be used to meet domestic energy needs. In 2022, Tamar alone was worth almost half of Israel's gas production.
The field is also important for the region, however, given that part of its production is exported to Egypt and Jordan. In turn, a portion of the Israeli gas sold to Egypt is exported by the latter to Europe in the form of liquefied gas (LNG) from the Damietta and Idku terminals: the Damietta plant is co-managed by Eni.
A VULNERABLE RESERVOIR
Benjamin Netanyahu's government has given authorization to the Ministry of Energy to declare, if necessary, a state of emergency for the energy sector, in order to protect domestic consumption.
The Tamari field is located about twenty kilometers off the coast of Ashdod, a city located on the southern coast of Israel, overlooking the Mediterranean. The mining platform is vulnerable because it is within range of any missiles launched from the Gaza Strip.
Activities in the nearby Leviathan field – the largest in Israeli waters – are continuing normally.
PRODUCTION NUMBERS
The Tamar site, managed by the US oil company Chevron, is made up of six wells, with an output generally between 7.1 and 8.5 million cubic meters per day; in 2022, according to government data, its output reached 10.2 billion cubic meters. Since it began operations a decade ago, Tamar has helped transform Israel into a gas supplier for the Mediterranean region.
WHO CONTROLS TAMAR
Chevron owns a 25 percent stake in Tamar. The Israeli companies Isramco and Tamar Petroleum have 28.7 and 16.7 percent respectively, while the Emirati Mubadala Energy has 11 percent.
WHAT IS HAPPENING BETWEEN ISRAEL, EGYPT AND EUROPE
In August, Israel announced that it would increase exports of gas extracted from Tamar to Egypt, with the aim of both improving relations with its neighbor and strengthening its role as an energy supplier in the region . Today, however, according to Bloomberg , Israeli gas shipments to Egypt have reduced by 20 percent.
According to information gathered by the agency, the Tamar suspension has reduced Egyptian imports of Israeli gas to 650 million cubic meters per day. The decline will have repercussions on LNG liquefaction and export activities to Europe, but it is not possible, at the moment, to give precise estimates: this is because the LNG sold by Egypt is a mixture of Israeli gas and Egyptian gas.
In June 2022, the European Union, seeking suppliers of alternative fuels to Russia, signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt on increasing gas exports to the Old Continent. The agreement, in short, involved sending Israeli gas to Egypt through existing pipelines; there it would be liquefied and finally re-exported to Europe.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/israele-gas-tamar/ on Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:13:16 +0000.