Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Leviathan’

Israel’s offshore production curtailments mirror those during the June 2025 conflict

Posted in energy policy, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on March 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Argus reports that Israel’s energy ministry has instructed Chevron and Energean to suspend production at their offshore Leviathan and Karish gas fields.

Although, the Israeli facility shut-ins will result in the curtailment of exports, Egypt has implemented a backup plan to ensure adequate supply.

There is no indication that Chevron’s Tamar field has been shut-in.

Summary table:

field
(operator)		2024 production
(billion cubic meters)
(% of Israel’s total)		June 2025 conflict2026 conflict
Leviathan
(Chevron)		11.33
45%		shut-inshut-in
Tamar
(Chevron)		10.09
37%		producingproducing?
Karish
(Evergean)		5.96
18%		shut-inshut-in

Read Full Post »

Chevron continues to build on Noble Energy’s Eastern Mediterranean legacy

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Thirty years ago, when industry majors shied away from exploration offshore Israel, Noble Energy (then Samedan) boldly stepped forward and partnered with the Delek Group to explore the Eastern Mediterranean.

Exploration success was accompanied by national security, legal, and regulatory challenges. Nonetheless, Israel’s gas production has grown rapidly and is expected to exceed 3 bcf/day in 2026, which is > current gas production in the Gulf of America.

Chevron is now the main operator in Israel, having purchased Noble’s assets in 2020. The company has taken another major step by signing an MOU with Syrian Petroleum Co. and Qatar-based Power International Holding. The document is not currently accessible online, but appears to be substantive based on press reports.

The agreement focuses on preliminary cooperation for exploring and developing offshore oil and gas resources offshore Syria. It’s noteworthy that the MOU will only remain in effect for two months, after which “formal contracts and operational work are expected to follow.”

Having done some work for Noble Energy in the 2010s, I’m very impressed by the progress that has been made given the geopolitical challenges.

Production at Chevron’s Leviathan, a giant gas field offshore Israel

The EIA’s Eastern Mediterranean overview is attached.

eastern-mediterraneanDownload

Read Full Post »

Israel and US offshore gas production are nearly equivalent

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on October 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Production at Chevron’s Leviathan, a giant offshore gas field

This may come as a surprise to many, but Israel produced 752 billion cubic feet of gas in 2022, which is nearly equivalent to US offshore gas production (788 bcf in 2022).

Chevron is the main operator in Israel, having purchased Noble’s assets in 2020. Absent Noble’s bold and pioneering exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, Israel would have continued to be an energy importer dependent on coal for power generation.

Presumably, the protection of these offshore assets is a high priority for the Israeli Navy.

Read Full Post »

Build the EastMed Gas Pipeline!

Posted in energy policy, gas, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, tagged , , , on March 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Leviathan platform, offshore Israel

Gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin are enormous:

Now the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that as much as 122 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil lie in the eastern Mediterranean basin. That amount of gas is equivalent to about 76 years of gas consumption in the European Union.

Forbes

Another US energy/foreign policy blunder?

Last January, the US informed Israel, Greece and Cyprus that they no longer supported the proposed EastMed natural-gas pipeline from Israel to Europe citing the need to “(allow) for future exports of electricity produced by renewable energy sources, benefiting nations in the region.”

Jerusalem Post

It’s time to move forward with this strategically important energy project. Chevron is now the main player in the Eastern Mediterranean after their 2020 acquisition of Noble Energy.

Read Full Post »

Noble Energy forced to abandon Israeli offshore well because of shallow water flow

Posted in drilling, offshore, tagged , , , on May 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) announced today that it has ended drilling operations at the Leviathan #2 appraisal well location, offshore Israel. During the drilling process, the Company identified water flowing to the sea floor from the wellbore. The source is a water sand that flowed behind the surface casing. It has been monitored closely and there are no indications of any hydrocarbons in the produced water. Drilling in the Leviathan #2 well had not yet reached the depth of the targeted gas intervals discovered in the Leviathan #1 well. Noble Energy

Costly problem, but not terribly unusual.

Read Full Post »