LONDON — Israel is managing to maintain a steady supply of gas domestically and to international customers despite the country's conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, according to Russell Hardy, chief executive officer of independent energy trader Vitol.
The US oil company Chevron ordered the shutdown of a key Israel offshore gas field after Hamas launched its surprise attack on the Jewish state on Oct. 7. The company said Oct. 9 that it had been instructed by Israel’s energy ministry to shut down the Tamar gas field off the country’s northern coast, due to the security situation within Israel after the deadliest incursion into Israeli territory since the Yom Kippur was in 1973.
The Tamar field has a production capacity of 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of gas and condensate, with estimated reserves of around 11.14 trillion cubic feet. The site is owned by Chevron, Dor Gas Exploration Limited Partnership, Everest Infrastructures, Isramco Negev 2, UAE-based Mubadala Investment and Israeli company Tamar Petroleum. It usually meets around 70% of Israel's energy needs for power generation.
"Obviously, gas production in Israel has become material over the last few years and a lot of that gas is consumed domestically. I think they probably have a little bit of spare capacity in the system,” Hardy told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on Tuesday.
