Additional Exports to Egypt Approved As Part of Tamar Expansion

The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure is is promoting plans to expand the annual production of natural gas from the Tamar field by approximately 6 BCM starting in 2026, a roughly 60% increase in the reservoir's production capacity, bolstering the State of Israel's energy security and stimulating competition in the domestic natural gas market. The Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, MK Israel Katz, approved the recommendations of the Ministry's Petroleum Commissioner, Chen Bar-Yosef, following consultations with Director of the Natural Gas Authority, Moshe Garazi, as required by government decisions.

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, MK Israel Katz: "after ensuring the supply of gas to the Israeli domestic market, I have now signed a permit for additional natural gas exports to Egypt from the Tamar reservoir. This is an important step that will increase state revenues and bolster diplomatic ties between Israel and Egypt. I would like to thank Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Minister Yuval Steinitz, who did not give up on extracting the gas from the sea. I will not give up on its continued extraction for the benefit of all the citizens of Israel".

The expansion, now awaiting a final investment decision by the Tamar partners, will be carried out through the addition of a third gathering line from the Tamar wells to the production platform, as well as an upgrade of the equipment on the production platform itself.

The decision to promote the expansion of production was made after comprehensive analysis conducted by professionals at the Ministry during the past few months, including an in-depth examination of natural gas supply and demand predictions over the next 25 years – on an annual, monthly and daily basis.

Experts in the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure took a conservative approach, according to which domestic supply of natural gas will be guaranteed in sufficient amounts to last until 2048, despite current government policy to reserve supplies only until 2043. According to estimates by experts in the Ministry, even after approval of the additional exports, there exists sufficient supply of natural gas for the needs of the domestic market for these years, thanks to the expansion of production.

Approximately one third of the production capacity will be earmarked for the domestic market, and is expected to provide approximately 15-25% of existing consumption of natural gas in the Israeli economy. In emergency situations, it will be possible to divert all additional production for domestic use, in accordance with existing legislation. The additional export quantity of 3.5 BCM per year is contingent on the expansion of production.

Within the framework of the plan, the expansion of the total export quota to Egypt was increased by 38.7 BCM over 11 years. The export permit was granted under the comprehensive framework approved by government decisions (4442, 442, 476) and in consultation with the Director of the Natural Gas Authority. In addition, an additional increase of 0.5 BCM per year is being considered, subject to further assessments regarding the overall supply of natural gas to the domestic market.

In addition to enabling the expansion of production, the new export permit is expected to derive billions of dollars in additional revenues for the State of Israel, bolster energetic ties with Egypt and other regional players, and strengthening Israel's diplomatic and geopolitical status.

In addition to determining total export quotas, the export permit includes annual, monthly and daily quotas, in order to ensure maximum availability of natural gas supply to the domestic market, especially in times of peak demand, outages or unplanned maintenance.