State-owned company Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. (INGL) completed the expansion of its natural gas transmission system with the commissioning of a new subsea section between Ashdod and Ashkelon, an infrastructure that will gradually increase Israeli gas exports to Egypt under the commercial agreement signed with Blue Ocean Energy.
Thus, the project’s completion enables the first increase in gas shipments from the Leviathan field, located off the Israeli coast. This measure fulfills the technical conditions established to expand the supply contemplated in the export contract signed between the gas field consortium and the purchasing company.
Gas Exports to Egypt to Increase in 2 Stages
The new subsea section is approximately 46 kilometers long and increases the Eastern Mediterranean transmission system’s capacity to 850 million cubic feet per day, equivalent to about 8.5 billion cubic meters annually.
As a result, the Leviathan field will be able to supply approximately 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Egypt via this route, a quantity that adds to the nearly 2 billion cubic meters annually already exported through the Jordan North pipeline.
Leviathan Expands Production Capacity
In parallel, the project partners completed the installation of the third pipeline connecting the field to the production platform during 2026. This expansion increased Leviathan’s production capacity to approximately 14 billion cubic meters annually, strengthening its ability to supply both the Israeli domestic market and international commitments.
The Leviathan field is operated by Chevron and includes the participation of NewMed Energy and Ratio Energies, companies responsible for the development and commercialization of Israel’s largest natural gas field.
Agreement Foresees Two-Stage Expansion
The contract signed between the Leviathan consortium and Blue Ocean Energy foresees increasing gas supply to Egypt by 130 billion cubic meters, an operation with an estimated value of 35 billion dollars.
In a first stage, exports will grow from approximately 4.7 billion to nearly 6.7 billion cubic meters annually, thanks to the commissioning of the new pipeline and improvements made to the production system.
Subsequently, a second phase will allow exports to increase to a range of 11.9 billion to 12.9 billion cubic meters per year, provided that the additional expansion of the field is completed and the transmission agreements associated with the future Nitzana onshore pipeline, intended to reinforce the energy interconnection between Israel and Egypt, come into force.
A Key Infrastructure for the Regional Energy Market
The expansion of the transmission system represents one of the most important energy infrastructure projects recently developed in Israel. In addition to increasing natural gas export capacity, the new connection improves the flexibility of the transmission system and strengthens the Eastern Mediterranean’s role as a regional energy supplier.
Likewise, the development seeks to balance export growth with the needs of the Israeli domestic market, a criterion considered during the planning of the project’s subsequent phases to ensure national supply security.
Source: Rigozone
Photo: Shutterstock
