Director of the Natural Resources Governance Institute in the Middle East and North Africa, Lori Haitian, said that 38% of Israeli gas comes from the Tamar field, which is managed and supervised by the American company Chevron.
She added, during an episode of the program “Energy Ansiyat“, moderated by the editorial advisor to the specialized energy platform, Dr. Anas Al-Hajji, and the economic expert and head of the Arab-African Center for Investment and Facilities, Advisor Eid Al-Eid, on the “X” platform under the title “The war on Gaza, its effects on Eastern Mediterranean gas and energy supplies”, that the direct impact of the war is related to stopping… Producing a large portion of gas.
Haitian explained that the reduction in Israeli gas production from the Tamar field, at the request of the Israeli government to Chevron, was at a very high rate, as most of the production is directed to internal electricity consumption, and about 5 to 8% of this production goes to export to both Jordan and Egypt.
This directly means, according to the international expert, that the energy sector and the economy are witnessing the greatest impact as a result of the Gaza war in the Mediterranean basin, as Egypt was affected, and to some extent Jordan was affected, and of course Israel was affected regarding the internal demand for energy.
The fourth licensing round in Israel
Lori Haitian says that while the repercussions of the Gaza war were occurring, the Israeli Ministry of Energy was announcing the results of the fourth licensing round in Israel.
She added: “The result of this round was that Israel was granted the right to invest, develop and explore for a group of companies, as it obtained the rights to explore for Israeli gas in the northern “A” region on the border with Lebanon, the Azerbaijani companies SOCAR, the British oil company BP (BP), and Israeli “Newmed”.
She continued: “In the southern region, specifically Area C, the Italian company Eni entered the Israeli market for the first time with Dina Petroleum and Risha, which is also an Israeli company, meaning that this round was launched 7 months ago.” “October, specifically July 2023.”
Israeli Tamar gas field – Photo from Reuters
Lori Haitian explained that the Israeli government had announced before the start of the Gaza War on October 7 that there were 5 new companies that might enter the Israeli market, and today everything has changed, but the result is that 4 of the largest companies have entered the Israeli market.
She asked: “Will Israel continue to accept the offers and continue the agreement, and then resume work?”, explaining that this is what must be waited for, but this matter will have repercussions, which are:
First: The group of companies is “SOCAR”, “BP”, and “NEOMED”, and SOCAR is the government company in Azerbaijan, which always supplies Israel with oil, and has a close military relationship with it, and everyone knows what happened in Armenia and Israel’s supply of military equipment to Azerbaijan. Today, these energy relations are strengthened by the presence of the Azeri company among the Israeli gas prospectors.
As for the British oil company BP and the Israeli NEOMED, the former had offered last May with the Emirati company ADNOC to buy 50% of NEOMED for about $2 billion, and today we see that this project may have been halted due to the Gaza war, and it is possible that The Israeli company is unwilling to have an Arab partner, or ADNOC is unwilling to have Israeli participation.
Second: The presence of the Italian company Eni, which the government in Italy owns part of, and at the same time it is strongly present in Egypt and Cyprus, and currently has the rig in Block 9 in Lebanon, and we see it today searching for Israeli gas, to prove its presence as a primary gas producer in the region, Especially since the Italian government announced after the Ukraine war its desire to diversify energy sources and replace Russian gas with supplies from other regions.
The situation in Lebanon after the Gaza war
Director of the Natural Resources Governance Institute in the Middle East and North Africa, Laurie Haitian, raised a question about the possibility of Italy’s Eni continuing in Lebanon, after it won the fourth licensing round for Israeli gas exploration.
She said that the presence of the Italian company in Block 9, as a partner with Total Energy and Qatar Energy, and after the drilling results showed that there was no gas in these blocks, and then submitted it with the two companies to the Lebanese state with two offers in Blocks 8 and 10, it is proposed Questions about the position of the Lebanese government.
She added: “Will the Lebanese state accept the presence of the Italian company Eni in Block 9 after it began operating in Israel? Will it accept the two offers that the company submitted with Total Energy and Qatar Energy? This is what we are waiting to know.”
She pointed out that there is a state of anticipation regarding the position of the companies that the Israeli government announced that they won contracts within the fourth licensing round, and whether they want to continue exploring for Israeli gas after the war currently taking place in Gaza.
The headquarters of the Italian company Eni – Image from premiumtimesng
The international expert explained that this is an important point related to the future of energy in Lebanon. The first licensing round, which began in 2013 and ended with two agreements in 2018, regarding Blocks 4 and 9, with an alliance consisting of Total, Eni, and Novatek, and then Qatar Energy in Block 4, which Total abandoned. A few days ago, after it drilled preliminary exploratory drilling and did not find gas.
She continued: “With regard to the second licensing round, we are awaiting the results of the state and what it will announce regarding them, and whether it will accept the two offers submitted by Total and its colleagues, and after that there is nothing for Lebanon in terms of oil and gas, and let us wait for what will happen in the coming weeks in the region, but we can say, Lebanon’s dreams of becoming an oil and gas producing country today are just illusions, and nothing is real.”
It is noteworthy that Lebanon announced last October 19 that exploration and gas discovery operations showed shocking results, with the end of drilling operations in the Qana field near the Israeli border, as the Lebanese Ministry of Energy settled the controversy over the operations conducted by a coalition led by Total Energy.
The Petroleum Sector Administration Authority affiliated with the Ministry of Energy and Water issued a statement, a copy of which was obtained by the Specialized Energy Platform, in which it announced the continuation of drilling the exploratory well in Block 9 in the Lebanese marine waters, confirming that no hydrocarbon materials had been found, but the data and samples constitute new hope and positive data.
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2023-11-03 18:37:41
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