The massive Leviathan gas field offshore Israel is resuming production on Wednesday, following two weeks in which it was shut down due to the Israel-Iran conflict.
Leviathan, operated by U.S. supermajor Chevron, was shut down on June 13, after the Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites that escalated hostilities in the region.
Following the ceasefire from earlier this week, Chevron’s unit, Chevron Mediterranean Limited, received a notice from the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructures, whereby the Leviathan platform may be restarted and prepared for production, Israeli firm NewMed, a partner in the Leviathan field, said on Wednesday.
Accordingly, Chevron is now working on restarting the platform and resuming regular production from the reservoir within a few hours, NewMed said.
Leviathan is a major supplier of gas to Egypt and Jordan, which scrambled in the past weeks to replace lost gas supply from Israel’s major gas field.
Another gas field offshore Israel that had stopped production during the conflict has also been cleared by the Israeli authorities to restart output.
UK-based oil and gas producer Energean plc suspended production from its offshore platform in Israel amid the escalation of tensions in the Middle East earlier this month.
After U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire earlier this week, Energean announced on Wednesday that it is working to safely restart production and resume normal operations at the Energean Power FPSO, after receiving notice from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, instructing the safe restart and resumption of production and operations.
“We look forward to bringing production safely back online, in full coordination with the authorities, to deliver energy security to Israel and the broader region,” Energean’s chief executive officer, Mathios Rigas, said.
Resumption of Israeli gas field operations is set to ease concerns in Egypt and Jordan about gas supply and pressure downwards Europe’s gas prices, which had soared in the past weeks amid fears of gas supply disruptions due to the Middle East conflict.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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