Israel Begins Selling Natural Gas to Egypt
Noa Natural Gas Field off the coast of Israel (Wikipedia)
Israel began exporting natural gas to Egypt and Jordan on January 15 as per their November agreement. This step, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, “turned Israel into an energy power.” Israel, a state historically dependent on the importation of fuel, has become an energy power due to its discovery of natural gas in the Mediterranean, and its formerly hostile neighbors have become energy partners.
Prior to its discovery of natural gas in 2010, Israel was almost totally dependant on the importation of natural gas from Europe and Egypt. However, the discovery of the Leviathan Field 130 miles off the coast of Israel completely changed that dynamic. Leviathan Field holds more than 450 billion cubic meters of natural gas and is one of the largest known fields in the Mediterranean. For Israel, the natural gas acquired from the field could end its reliance on imported gas for decades.
Map of oil and gas fields in Eastern Mediterranean region (Wikipedia)
Until 2012, Egypt exported natural gas to Israel. However, the Egyptian acquisition of natural gas slowed in 2011 due to political crises, budget shortfalls, and terrorist attacks. As a result, Egypt developed a shortage and was forced to import natural gas. Now, in a strange twist of fate, Israel will export its natural gas in the same pipeline it used to import gas from Egypt.
Israel will export around 85% of the gas drilled in the Leviathan Field. In the deal announced in November, $19.5 billion worth of natural gas will be sold to Egypt, which Egyptian energy minister El-Molla stated was “an important development that will serve the economic interests of both sides.” For Israel, the ramifications go beyond merely economic, with Energy Minister Steinitz calling the deal “the most significant cooperation ever between Israel and Egypt since the peace treaty.”
Jordan will also import around $15 billion worth of natural gas. However, its deal with Israel has been met with anger and protests; Jordanians denounced the importation of “energy stolen from occupied Palestine.” While attacked in the Jordanian Parliament, the deal will save Jordan around $500 million each year and will reduce the massive budget deficit.
Israel’s sale of natural gas perhaps represents a new phase of energy relations in the Middle East. Israel, a state that historically has had fraught relations with other Middle Eastern states, is now developing closer economic and political ties with those same states. As Energy Minister Steinitz argued, this is a “historic milestone for the State of Israel.”