Foundation of rig for Israel’s offshore gas field arrives
Platform jacket to be placed 6 miles off the coast, in step 1 of plan to turn country into energy exporter
An aerial view of the Israeli Tamar gas processing rig 24 kilometers off the Israeli southern coast of Ashkelon.
Israel’s Delek Drilling and its US partner, Noble Energy, say the foundation of their rig for the Leviathan gas field has arrived.
The foundation, known as the platform jacket, is being placed Sunday around 10 kilometers (6 miles) off Israel’s coast. It marks the first stage of an ambitious project they say will wean Israel off coal and revolutionize its economy by turning it into an energy exporter.
The topside of the platform is expected to arrive in several months and natural gas from the field is supposed to pump into Israel and its neighboring countries by the end of the year.
Israel already has export deals signed with Jordan and Egypt, and it aims to build a pipeline with Greece and Cyprus to carry the gas to Europe.
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz (2nd R), Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis (L) and Greek Economy minister Giorgos Stathakis after signing a pledge to build the world’s longest undersea gas pipeline, April 3, 2017. (AFP Photo/Jack Guez)Italy, Israel, Greece and Cyprus pledged to move ahead on the world’s longest undersea gas pipeline to take it from the eastern Mediterranean to southern Europe, with support from the European Union. / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ
