On Wednesday, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stated that the country should allocate more of its natural gas reserves for export. Over the past 15 years, Israel has discovered significant natural gas reserves along the Mediterranean coast, but the government has long restricted the scale of natural gas exports to secure the local market supply. For many years, whether to lift the restrictions on natural gas exports has been a contentious issue among the Israeli public and industry insiders.
In 2022, Israeli energy companies produced 21.29 billion cubic meters of natural gas, but only 9.21 billion cubic meters were exported to Egypt and Jordan. Israel hopes to double its natural gas production in the coming years and establish connections with major markets including Europe. This month, the Israeli Energy Ministry auctioned four natural gas exploration areas to nine energy companies, five of which are new to the Israeli market.
During his visit to Leviathan, Israel Katz stated that Israel has the capacity to export natural gas in a controlled manner, which is a powerful diplomatic tool that can strengthen Israel's influence in the region and the world. Leviathan is Israel's largest oil and gas field, operated jointly by Chevron, Israeli company NewMed Energy, and Ratio Energy.
For a long time, due to restrictions on natural gas exports and the relatively small size of the domestic market, Israeli energy companies have not only lacked opportunities to engage with foreign buyers, but foreign energy companies have also been reluctant to make large-scale investments in Israel. Israel Katz's remarks might hint at an impending change in Israel's energy export policy, which could encourage foreign energy enterprises to increase or speed up their investments in the Israeli energy market.
