Chevron restarts gas production on a platform near the Gaza Strip
Chevron said Monday that it has resumed natural gas production from a platform in Israeli waters at the government’s instruction. The Israeli Ministry of Energy had instructed the American energy giant to do this cessation of production on the Tamar platformshortly after the October 7 raids by Hamas militants in Israel and the start of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
“We have resumed supplying customers in Israel and the region from the Tamar Production Platform,” Chevron said in a statement. The facility, in the Mediterranean Sea, is located about 19 kilometers off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
The restart of Tamar likely means that the Israeli government has decided that fighting with Hamas no longer threatens the facility. Initial concerns about a broader escalation of fighting disrupting energy supplies in the region have subsided prices have dropped recently.
Gas is vital to Israel’s economy and is typically responsible for about 70 percent of electricity generation. Israel sells its excess gas to Egypt and Jordan. Making Tamar operational again will give Israel more gas to export to Egypt. Gas sales are an important part of the ties between the two countries control access to Gaza.
Cairo uses the fuel imported from Israel to generate electricity, run factories and further export to Europe and other destinations through two liquefied natural gas terminals on the country’s Mediterranean coast.
The closure of Tamar has contributed to a tight gas market in Egypt, causing domestic consumption and exports to shrink.
Chevron is now the major player in Israel’s energy industry, operating not only the Tamar platform but also a second major gas source, the Leviathan field. The production facility for Leviathan is located in the waters near Haifa in northern Israel and is less vulnerable to rocket fire from Gaza. On the other hand, Leviathan is closer to Lebanon, the base of fighters from Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia that has clashed with Israel since fighting broke out in Gaza.
Chevron hopes to use its position in Israel, Egypt and Cyprus as a pillar regional springboard to become a major exporter to Europe. It is not clear what impact the war may have on these ambitions.
A third platform in Israeli waters, run by a company called Energean, also produces gas in the area.