Israel expected to earn up to $74 billion in taxes from natural gas over next decade

Israel expects to reap as much as $74 billion from levies collected from profits on natural gas and excess profits on other natural resources over the next decade, according to a new forecast by the Israel Tax Authority.

The Israel Tax Authority forecasts between $57 billion to $74 billion will be collected in the coming decade from levies from gas and oil profits over the coming decade. The forecast is up from a previous estimate of $55 billion to $72 billion.

Natural gas fields off Israel’s Mediterranean coast discovered more than a decade ago have put the country on a path to energy independence in a region with few natural resources. Since then, the country has also emerged as a gas exporter.

Leviathan, one of the world’s largest deep-water gas discoveries, started pumping in December 2019. The nearby Tamar site, which holds some 10 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, started in 2013.