Leviathan will be active in two weeks, Israel to export surplus resources to Jordan and Egypt
All eyes were on natural gas at the 17th Israel Energy & Business Convention, taking place December 2-3. Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s energy minister, announced that Leviathan, Israel’s most recently discovered natural gas field, will be active in two weeks. Israel relies on natural gas for most of its energy needs and this development could also be the start of Israel becoming a leading natural gas exporter in the region. Providing surplus natural gas to nearby countries could also bolster the Jewish state’s global image as it works in tandem with its Arab neighbors.
Steinitz sanctioned Leviathan in February 2017 and told the convention that it was the “largest private capital project in Israel’s history.” Six thousand people in over 30 countries took part in Leviathan’s natural gas rig, platform, and pipeline construction. Within Israel itself, 160 companies took part in its development. The Leviathan basin is projected to contain between 500-800 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which would allow Israel to be energy self-sufficient for four decades.
However, members of the public, including local mayors in Israel, protested the construction of the offshore platform and rig over environmental and health concerns. The Union of Concerned Scientists wrote in June 2014: “Natural gas is a fossil fuel.” Even though it emits less carbon-based emissions than oil or coal, retrieving and distributing natural gas through pipelines causes methane to escape, which, according to the union, “is 34 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat over a 100-year period and 86 times stronger over 20 years.” The organization also argues that there is evidence that capturing natural gas lowers air quality and could even lead to more earthquakes.
At the convention, Steinitz, who assumed his position as energy minister in 2015, touted his environmental record and implored his successors, which is yet to be determined as the new Israel government has not been formed even after two elections.
“Regarding renewable energy, when I entered the office, it stood at 2%. By the end of 2020, we undoubtedly will reach 10%. This fine result is only the beginning and we are not stopping here. Any government formed must act responsibly in regard to environmental and energy use in order to reach these goals,” he told the crowd.
Steinitz also stated that 2025 is Israel’s target year for ending its use of coal.
The conference falls on the backdrop of the UN climate change conference currently taking place in Madrid.
Dr. Amit Mor, the conference’s chairman and co-CEO of Eco Energy Financial & Strategic Consulting, is happy with Israel’s progress in energy. According to Mor, Israel relies on natural gas for 70% of its energy needs, renewable energy for 10%, and fossil fuels for the remaining 20%.
“Israel is shifting very quickly to be energy independent, relying especially on natural gas in power generation and industry and also enhancing its renewable energy portfolio especially in power generation,” he told The Media Line. “The [solar power] objective was raised to 30% by 2030. For a country that does not have interconnected electricity to its neighbors, it’s quite high in such a short period.”
When it comes to the future of energy for transport, which was also discussed at the conference, Mor believes that in the next decade, Israel will switch to electric cars mostly run on self-supplied natural gas and renewable energy.
“In the long run, we are going to run most of our transportation sector on domestic energy, electricity.”
The success of Israel’s energy and business sector is especially impressive given Israel’s location in the Middle East, which is an area plagued by instability.
One of the challenges faced by Ronen Menachem, head of the research and investment department within the advisory sector at the Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot, is determining how these external factors combined with internal risk factors impact stakeholders’ portfolios.
“We are dealing with the geopolitical perspective of the investments,” he told The Media Line. “In Israel, we try to see how the political and budgetary situation relates to all kinds of investments in order to see how to translate to suitable assets that we can allocate to the households we serve.”
In the turbulent Middle East, Israel has had to engage in “energy diplomacy” to find markets for surplus natural gas. Israel will export an excess of this resource to Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab countries with which Israel has a peace treaty.
Ambassador Yael Ravia-Zadok, the deputy director-general and head of the economic affairs division in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told The Media Line: “Israel found gas, and the fact that you need to find markets, you need to build partnerships, you need investors, you need to take this potential into a reality, it combines involvement not only of companies but also governments. … There is an interest of countries to make sure the potential turns into a reality, and therefore it requires political coordination.”
“Therefore, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” she added, “like the American State Department, turned energy into a topic to be discussed in diplomatic meetings, in embassies, ambassadors as well as other representatives of the government like the Ministry of Energy, which leads the Israeli energy policy.”
The future of energy in Israel and the world will impact the environment, and Professor Yoav Yair, the dean of the School of Sustainability at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, told the conference that the Jewish state can take the lead in reducing and helping other countries lower carbon-based emissions: “We can be the world’s better side and I believe in our power: a combination of policy, innovation, and development.”