JERUSALEM (JTA) — A large natural gas field has been discovered near an already-large natural gas reserve in northern Israel.
Delek Drilling and Noble Energy announced Tuesday that an exploration team had discovered a new natural gas deposit off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, near the Tamar reserve off the coast of northern Israel near Haifa, which was discovered in 2009 and contains up to 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas; it pumped natural gas into Israel for the first time in March.
The new field, called Tamar Southwest, is estimated to hold 20 billion cubic meters of gas.
The exploratory drilling at Tamar Southwest began about two months ago, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Noble announced earlier in the week that the development of the Leviathan natural gas field, discovered in 2010 and estimated to hold 16 trillion to 18 trillion cubic feet of gas, will be delayed by at least one year, while the company works to obtain a license for the field from the Ministry of National Infrastructures and awaits a final decision on the offshore terminal’s location, which is expected to be made in the summer of 2014, the Israeli business daily Globes reported.
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