US oil and gas company Chevron has resumed the supply of natural gas from the offshore Tamar field, over a month after it was ordered by Israel to stop production due to escalating conflicts in the region.
Chevron restarted supply from the field and said that Israeli authorities instructed the US company to resume operations on November 9. Chevron operates and holds a 25% stake in Tamar.
There are six production wells at Tamar with each generating between 7.1 and 8.5m cu m of natural gas per day. The field will need a few days to ramp up production to full capacity at which time it will meet around 70% of Israel’s energy requirements for producing power. Around 20% of the gas from the field goes to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
Since the platform can be seen from the northern Gaza Strip on a clear day and is within range of rocket fire, Israel ordered the shutdown of the field on October 10. It is located some 25 km from the city of Ashdod along Israel’s southern Mediterranean coast.
At the time, the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said that the electricity sector was prepared to operate the stations with alternative fuels whenever necessary.
Leviathan, Israel’s largest offshore gas field, remained online during the Tamar shutdown as well as Energean’s Karish field.
