British company announces new gas discovery off Israeli coast
Israel’s relatively new natural gas supply plays a major role in the country’s relations with its neighbors in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
More natural gas has been discovered off the coast of Israel, a British energy company announced today.
Energean said in a press release that it found 8 billion cubic meters of gas in an area known as Athena near Israel’s Tanin field, west of the northern city of Haifa. The London-based firm said it's considering options to sell the gas domestically in Israel and may also export it to Egypt via an agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company. Another option is to export it as liquified natural gas via pipeline in Egypt and Cyprus to Europe.
Energean’s stock shares rose slightly on the Tel Aviv stock exchange today as of 2:00 pm local time.
Why it matters: Israel discovered natural gas in its waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the early 2000s, before which Israel's energy resources were few.
