With first ever lifting of crude out of the way, Israel joins oil exporters club

Oil and gas company Energean has tucked another milestone under its belt with the first ever lifting of an Israeli crude oil cargo, which took place at its Karish field, offshore Israel.

The lifting of crude oil from the Karish field is the first time in the history of Israeli oil and gas production that hydrocarbon liquids will be exported to global markets, as disclosed by Energean on Tuesday, 14 February 2023.

Mathios Rigas, Energean CEO, commented: “We are happy and proud that Energean has facilitated Israel joining the club of international oil exporters. This is another milestone for us, enhancing Energean’s growth as a significant player in the local and regional markets.”

According to the company, utilising the regionally unique liquids storage and offloading capability of the FPSO Energean Power, the liquids are offloaded in a controlled manner and sold into various global markets.

For Energean, this creates “a significant differentiated income stream,” fundamentally separate from gas-derived revenues. The cargo has been sold as part of a multi-cargo marketing agreement with Vitol, the first of a new source of East Med energy to reach Europe, says the firm.

Nick Witney, Energean Group Commercial Director, remarked: “While we remain a gas-focused company, with our Israeli gas production central to our role in enabling the energy transition, light, sweet crude oil responsibly produced from modern, low carbon intensity facilities is very much in demand, globally.”

As a reminder, Energean started production from the Karish field off Israel in October 2022, after the FPSO Energean Power crossed the Suez Canal, as the first vessel of its type to do that, and reached the waters offshore Israel in early June 2022. 

The FPSO and the sales gas pipeline have an ultimate capacity of 8 bcm/yr, however, the initial capacity is up to 6.5 bcm/yr, and commercial gas sales were expected to reach this level approximately four to six months following the first gas.

In January 2023, Energean claimed that its key development projects– Karish North, NEA/NI, Cassiopea – would enable it to be on track to deliver its 200 kboed mid-term production target.

To this end, the installation of the second oil train and gas export riser, and the first gas from Karish North is expected by year-end 2023, debottlenecking FPSO capacity to 8 bcm/yr.