Israel Confirms $37 Billion Natural Gas Export Deal With Egypt

Israel has confirmed a $37 billion deal that will see them export natural gas to Egypt after heavy pressure from the United States.

The deal will see the Leviathan gas field, located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the Israeli exclusive economic zone (EEZ), giving them the rights to the gas. Of three natural gas fields in the Israeli EEZ, Leviathan is the largest– with over 22 trillion cubic feet of gas, Leviathan is one of the largest gas fields in the entire Mediterranean. The gas field is only partially-owned by Israeli corporation NewMed, though; the other half is owned by American oil and gas giant Chevron.

The agreement was actually announced back in August, when Chevron confirmed that they would be helping Israel export natural gas from Leviathan to Egypt, extending a previous deal from 2019. However, Israel had not approved the export permit for the deal at the time, likely due to the ongoing war in Gaza, which would have complicated the export process.

Following the confirmation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October, the region finally settled down, but Israel still refused to support the export permit without further talks. After months of negotiations regarding prices and other factors like competition to the deal, Israel finally approved the permit yesterday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the agreement as "the largest gas deal in Israel's history," according to CNN. Over the next 15 years, Chevron will work to export gas to Egypt, who will use it for their own purposes before selling the remaining gas to other buyers in Europe. Israel will receive around 50% of the profit made from this gas, while Chevron takes 50% and uses this new position to further their reputation and increase business across Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, NewMed will extract natural gas to use in Israel.

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