The US oil and gas company Chevron and its partners have taken a final investment decision (FID) on the second phase of development for the Tamar natural gas reservoir, located off Ashkelon, Israel. The project plans to expand production capacity from the reservoir to 1.6 bcf/d (45 mcm/d or 16.5 bcm/year) from about 1.1 bcf/d (31 mcm/d, or 11.3 bcm/year) currently.
This decision comes several months after the Israeli Government approved the expansion of the supply of gas from the Tamar reservoir by 6 bcm/year, of which 3.5 bcm/year will be exported to Egypt, starting from 2026 and for a period of 11 years. This represents a 60% increase compared to the current production capacity.
The partners for the development of the Tamar reservoir, besides Chevron (25%, operator), are Isramco (28.75%), Tamar Petroleum (16.75%), Mubadala Investment (11%), Tamar Investment 2 (11%), Dor Gas Exploration (4%), and Everest (3.5%).
Overall, Israel has total proved gas reserves of about 709 bcm (2022). The country produced nearly 22 bcm in 2022.