Chevron is restarting gas production in Israel after a brief shutdown during Iran’s attack

Chevron has resumed production and supply of natural gas from two platforms off Israel, where production was briefly suspended as a precaution due to Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Monday.

Iran fired more than 100 ballistic missiles into Israel yesterday after the United States warned Israel on Monday morning that an attack was imminent.

Oil prices rose after news of the attack emerged, amid concerns that the region’s oil and gas supplies could be affected in the event of a wider conflict directly involving Iran, which is close to the world’s most important oil route , Strait of Hormuz. .

“Chevron Mediterranean Limited (CML) can confirm that we have resumed production at both our Tamar and Leviathan plants and are supplying natural gas to our customers in Israel and the region from both reservoirs,” the US supermajor said in a statement published by Russian news. agency Tasse.

“Any questions regarding the current security situation should be directed to the appropriate Israeli government authorities,” Chevron added.

A year ago, Chevron also shut down the Tamar gas field after the Hamas attack on Israel in early October 2023 that triggered the ongoing conflict in the region.

Chevron Mediterranean Limited operates Tamar and holds a 25% stake in the field. At Tamar, six production wells produce natural gas volumes of between 7.1 and 8.5 million cubic meters per day each. Most of the natural gas processing takes place on the Tamar platform located 24 kilometers (15 miles) west of Ashkelon. Tamar supplies 70 percent of Israel’s energy needs for electricity generation, Chevron says.

Chevron has an interest in another of Israel’s offshore gas fields, the Leviathan gas field, Israel’s largest energy project, after buying Noble Energy. The Leviathan gas reservoir was one of the world’s largest deepwater gas discoveries in the 2000s, and its development is the largest energy project in Israel’s history. The gas field is located deep in the Mediterranean Sea, 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of Haifa.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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