Chevron and partners seek additional capacity boost at Mediterranean gas field

U.S.-headquartered Chevron and its partners in a giant natural gas field project off the coast of Israel have submitted an updated reservoir development plan to the Petroleum Commissioner at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructures for an additional expansion of the field’s capacity.

According to NewMed Energy, which is one of the partners, the updated plan mainly includes updates in connection with Phase 1B of the Leviathan gas field development. This includes drilling new production wells, upgrading offshore facilities, and potentially adding a fourth pipeline.

Located approximately 130 kilometers off the shores of Haifa, the Leviathan field comprises four subsea wells connected to an offshore platform via a subsea manifold and two 120-kilometer pipelines. The field has been producing natural gas since the end of 2019.

Yossi Abu, CEO of NewMed Energy, noted: “The Leviathan reservoir is the most stable and strongest energy hub in the Mediterranean. The expanded production capacity will meet growing domestic demand and strengthen Israel’s role as an energy provider, while bolstering regional collaborations.”

New Med Energy holds a 45.34% stake in the project, with Chevron Mediterranean and Ratio Energies holding 39.66% and 15% stakes, respectively. In October 2024, Chevron decided to postpone the proposed gas export capacity boost following the Israel-Gaza war.

The updated development plan envisages two stages for Phase 1B. Stage one includes the drilling of three additional production wells, the addition of related subsea systems, and the expansion of the processing facilities on the platform.

This is expected to increase the total gas production capacity of the system to around 21 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, which is envisaged to cost $2.4 billion. Partners approved an investment of $429 million in August 2024 for the project to move to the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase. Based on new information from NewMed, the approved budget currently amounts to $505 million.

Stage two, which mainly includes the drilling of additional production wells and related subsea systems and a potential fourth pipeline between the field and the platform, is expected to boost the maximum daily production capacity by another 2 bcm per year, bringing it to 23 bcm per year.

The partners intend to seek required regulatory approvals and the signing of the agreements for the sale of Phase 1B natural gas to the domestic market and export in a total volume of over 100 bcm. Furthermore, they hope to adopt a final investment decision (FID) for the first stage of Phase 1B in the coming months.

Last year, the project received approval from the Petroleum Commissioner to increase the export volume from the field by an additional 118 bcm, or up to 145 bcm if certain conditions are met.

Another updated plan–this time offshore Cyprus–was greenlighted by NewMed and its partners earlier this month. Thanks to this, the partners can move forward with the Aphrodite gas field development in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a pipeline for gas export to Egypt.