The Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has awarded licences to a consortium of the UK’s BP, Azerbaijan's national oil group SOCAR and Israel’s NewMed Energy for offshore natural gas exploration in Israeli waters. The six exploration licenses were granted in the area known as Zone I, a 1,700 km2 area located in the northern part of Israel's economic waters.
The area was put up for offer as part of the country’s 4th bid round in 2022. The consortium, operated by SOCAR, submitted bids for the zone in July 2023. Each company will hold approximately one third of the rights to each license. It is SOCAR’s first involvement in natural gas exploration outside of Azerbaijan, as well as BP’s first entry into Israel’s natural gas sector.
Overall, Israel has total proved gas reserves of about 709 bcm (as of end-2023). The country produced over 25 bcm and exported more than 11 bcm in 2023.