FX.co ★ Israel launches its own gas production

According to The Financial Times, Israel began pumping its own offshore natural gas. Gas from the Tamar field in the Mediterranean Sea started flowing at 4 pm on March 30. The gas travels from the offshore well via a pipeline to an onshore terminal at Ashdod.
The Tamar project cost $3 billion – local Delek Group and US Noble Energy invested in it – took 4 years to develop, and is the largest privately funded infrastructure project in Israeli history.
Meanwhile, the Israeli economy, dependent on energy import, mainly oil, will save the country’s economy about $13 billion a year in energy costs. It means the local state-owned Israel Electric Corp. may considerably reduce energy expenditures. The Bank of Israel estimates that the Tamar field will contribute a percentage point of the country’s GDP growth this year.
A significant portion of the extracted gas is likely to be exported. Amid gas exports, the Israeli government considers the possibility to create a sovereign wealth fund to save money gained from gas sales.
Earlier it was announced that Russian Gazprom would facilitate gas export from Israel’s field. The agreement was signed on February, 2013. Gazporm plans to build a FLNG vessel to store and export LNG from the Tamar gas field. A floating factory will be built by 2017.