Jerusalem Post: Natural gas exports give Israel energy security

The Tamar natural-gas reservoir discovered 90 kilometers west of Haifa was the largest offshore natural-gas discovery in the world in 2009. One year later, Noble Energy and its partners discovered the Leviathan field, almost twice as big as Tamar and the world’s largest offshore natural-gas discovery in 2010.

Together, these discoveries total almost 740 billion cubic meters, which is 240 b.cu.m. more than Israel will use for the next 30 years to generate electricity, shift the industrial sector off of liquid fuels and convert a portion of its transportation to CNG (compressed natural gas) or electric- drive trains. In short, our country is blessed with more gas than we can use for decades to come.

Israel’s decision makers are now tasked with adopting policies that will guarantee energy security for the country’s citizens, maximize the economic potential for the economy, create incentives for international oil companies (IOCs) to invest in Israel and create conditions for increased competition in the gas market.

The single-most important step the government can take to achieve these goals is to create the conditions for the establishment of a world-class export project.  MORE