Israel has started pumping natural gas to Egypt from two massive offshore fields, marking a major milestone and a historic cooperation between the countries, according to a joint statement.
The move comes shortly after natural gas started flowing from the massive Leviathan gas field, and some seven years after Israel starting pumping gas from the nearby Tamar field.
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz last month signed permits for the export of gas to Egypt, calling it “a historic milestone for the State of Israel.”
Jerusalem’s and Cairo’s energy ministries issued the rare joint statement on Wednesday morning, calling the move “an important development that will serve the economic interests of both sides.
“The step will both enable Israel to export some of its natural gas to the region via Egypt’s gas liquefaction plants, and promote Egypt’s status as a regional gas hub,” the statement said.
Steinitz and Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla will formally announce the move Wednesday at a meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), the statement added.
During the meeting, the energy ministers of Israel, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority are expected to approve turning the EMGF into a regional organization, according to the statement.
Israel’s delegation has been working with the other countries to put together the EMGF’s treaty, which the ministers will sign, the statement said, “in what will be another significant step on the path to consolidating the organization and its activities.”
In the October deal, the partners in the Israeli fields signed a contract with the privately held Egyptian firm Dolphinus Holdings to transfer some 85 billion cubic meters (3 trillion cubic feet), to be supplied by both the Tamar and the Leviathan fields starting in 2020.
Signing the export permit in December, Steinitz said, “The export of gas to Egypt, from Leviathan and Tamar, is the most significant economic cooperation between Israel and Egypt since the signing of the peace treaty between the countries.”
One source in Israel’s energy industry estimated the value of the gas to be sold to Egypt under the updated contract at a total value of $19.5 billion, Reuters reported.
Gas began flowing from the mammoth Leviathan offshore natural gas field — the largest energy project in Israel’s history — on December 31, after the government gave a final go-ahead to Noble Energy and its partners to forge ahead with the project despite vocal protests from residents of Israel’s coastal region who are concerned about the pollution emitted by the rigs.
Located in the Mediterranean Sea 125 kilometers (77 miles) west of Haifa, the Leviathan field is estimated to hold 22 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, and a potential half a million barrels of oil, according to estimates provided by the partners in the field.
The Tamar field — Israel’s second largest find — started producing gas in 2013 and has been supplying the country. It holds some 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, half of the amount held in Leviathan.
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