SOCAR coming aboard Chevron’s gas field offshore Israel

Chevron Mediterranean Limited, a subsidiary of the U.S.-headquartered oil major Chevron, is getting a new partner at its gas field off the coast of Israel, as Union Energy has decided to sell its stake to the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).

SOCAR is continuing to implement its strategy of expanding its production base in foreign countries after acquiring a 3% interest last year in an oil project in the UAE. The latest step taken to widen the firm’s footprint is encapsulated in an agreement with Union Energy, which will enable the company to acquire a 10% stake in the Tamar field.

The Chevron-operated project is said to be one of the largest and most important gas fields in Israel’s Mediterranean basin. SOCAR’s agreement with Union is subject to certain conditions, including receipt of appropriate regulatory and other approvals, to become effective.

The Azerbaijani player has explained that this deal marks the beginning of its investment projects in the upstream sector in the Mediterranean basin, as it intends to continue its activities toward acquiring stakes in strategic assets in foreign countries.

Located approximately 90 km west of Haifa at a sea depth of about 1,700 meters and discovered in January 2009, the Tamar field started commercial production in March 2013. The lion’s share of natural gas processing occurs on the Tamar platform, 24 km west of Ashkelon.

Chevron claims that this field supplies 70% of Israel’s energy consumption needs for electricity generation. The operator decided to invest $24 million in the development of the second phase of the project to boost natural gas production to about 1.6 billion cubic feet a day.

The work on the second phase and the laying of a 150-kilometer pipeline from the Tamar field to the platform, which is part of the first phase, was expected to be wrapped up in 2025.

In October 2024, Chevron opted to delay its planned work on another natural gas field expansion project offshore Israel because of the Gaza crisis. As a result, the expansion activities at the Leviathan field were suspended until April 2025 or thereabouts.

The decision came after the Leviathan partners approved the budget for expanding the existing infrastructure to include a floating LNG (FLNG) facility, expected to produce 4.6 million tons of LNG per year.