Noble Energy starts production from Leviathan field

Gas production and supply from the Noble Energy-operated Leviathan field offshore Israel has started on Tuesday, December 31.

Noble’s partner in the project Delek said that piping of natural gas from the Leviathan reservoir for supply to customers with which the Leviathan partners have agreements for the supply of gas began on the final day of 2019 – December 31.

The company added that the capacity of natural gas flow from the Leviathan reservoir is expected to ramp up gradually and accordingly in the coming days.

Delek also expects the natural gas supply from the reservoir to Egypt to also begin shortly.

It is worth reminding that gas production from Leviathan was expected to start on December 23, but was delayed.

Namely, the delay was ordered by the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy “because Noble Energy had been required to give the public notice (on its website) at least two working days prior to the start of the production, but failed to do so with enough notice before Monday (December 23).”

The Ministry said that production would begin one day later – December 24 – but Delek claimed that the piping of the gas from the Leviathan reservoir was “expected to commence in the coming days” after receipt of the required approvals from the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The Leviathan project is the largest energy project in Israel’s history. The project is being developed via an offshore platform from which treated gas and stabilized condensate will flow through a northern entry pipeline connected to the INGL (Israel Natural Gas Lines) national gas transmission system.

According to Noble Energy, the Leviathan gas will make it possible for the Israeli energy sector to be based almost exclusively on electricity generated by natural gas. Also, it will make Israel an energy exporter.

The Leviathan field is estimated to hold 33 Tcf of natural gas resources in place (22 Tcf recoverable). It was discovered in December 2010, 125 kilometers west of Haifa. It will have a total production capacity of 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d).

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