The process of culling natural gas from the massive Leviathan pipeline, expected to be the largest infrastructure project in Israel’s history and a boon to the Israeli economy, is very much on its way.
This past summer, I joined Noble Energy’s trip to its Texas-based offices and operations to learn precisely how it was constructing Leviathan, set to go in waters 9.7 kilometers off the Haifa coast. Noble finally kicked off the project in 2017 – almost seven years after many billions of shekels worth of natural gas was first found in the colossal Mediterranean Sea field off Dor Beach. The discovery came around a year after the Tamar field was found, with the gas there also being extracted by Noble.
It seemed almost a natural fit for Noble, with its Tamar experience (also in the Mediterranean Sea off the Haifa Coast, but farther offshore) and regional office in Herzliya, to have found the Leviathan gas field – the largest exploration discovery in company history and largest-ever gas find in the eastern Mediterranean to that point. After drilling the initial exploration well to a depth of 5,170 meters – at a cost of $92.5 million – the game-changing discovery was announced at the end of 2010.
In 2017, Noble (which owns 39.7% of the field, with the rest split among Israeli partners Avner Oil and Gas, Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil Exploration) and its Israeli counterparts confirmed they would invest $3.75 billion in the project and put phase one in motion. Noble was set to deliver gas to the Israeli market and to neighboring countries before the end of 2019, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu positioned the government’s natural gas policy as in the larger interest of the country’s national security, highlighting that it would ensure Israel’s position in the Middle East.
It seemed everyone would win: the Israeli government, the Israeli people, regional neighbors like Jordan, Egypt and Cyprus – and of course, the company creating the infrastructure to extract the gas: Noble.
What Noble didn’t anticipate were long delays in the regulatory approval process and the impassioned response by the Israeli people, who feared what they saw as powerful global companies partnering with the Israeli government to harvest resources, grab the profits – without the Israeli people seeing an agora – and in the process harm Dor Beach, one of the country’s most beautiful and beloved beaches.
Their fears were not without precedent. Pollution and illness were already believed to exist in the nearby Haifa Bay due to fumes from area petrochemical plants. Then there were the ongoing tussles to protect the land from being sold off to developers: Pristine Palmahim Beach in Rishon Lezion was saved from developers’ clutches not that long ago, while the plan to build luxury towers in Tel Aviv’s Atarim Square and significantly alter a natural corridor to the beach is currently drawing residents’ ire.
As protests and attempts to derail the project continued and intensified, led by the Citizens Coalition in parallel with neighboring Zichron Ya’acov and other local councils, Noble felt it was time to tell their side of the story.
At Noble Energy’s Houston headquarters, high-level executives joined our group for presentations. In addition to Bini Zomer, a Modi’in resident who serves as Noble Israel’s vice president of regional affairs and accompanied us on the trip, they included Keith Elliott, senior vice president offshore; Michael Grenz, senior manager, offshore essential health and safety requirements; and Bill Pritchett, director of operations for Noble’s Israel gas projects.
The National Planning Committee’s National Outline Plan 37H governs the development of Israel’s gas fields in the Mediterranean; considering potential future gas discoveries, it has allowed for the construction of a possible 16 platforms (by Noble or any other energy company) in the areas comprising the Dor and Netanya coast “polygons.”
Noble’s Leviathan is one of those 16, and the executives stressed that the platform was designed based on strict environmental standards and international safety standards, incorporating quality assurance/quality control, pressure testing and emergency preparedness. As a closed system, gases will be recovered for reuse to prevent emission of air pollutants.
Upon my return to Israel, one sentence I heard on that first day of our trip stuck out in my mind: “Noble stands by its commitment to the Leviathan pipeline, and we expect the Israeli government to stand by us.”
The gears are very much in motion. In early September, leading certification body DNV GL-Business Assurance USA certified Noble Energy Mediterranean Ltd. for full compliance to the Safety and Environmental System standard, which represents the Center for Offshore Safety’s criteria for safe operations of offshore production platforms.
With the work carried out with the promised “culture of no harm,” the country and region as a whole can expect to reap the rewards.
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