Israeli Energy: Olam's Coverage of Leviathan, Tamar, NewMed, Chevron, and the East Med Gas Map

Israel's gas system is now regional infrastructure. Chevron, NewMed, SOCAR, Mubadala, BP, and Energean are no longer just field owners — they are part of the East Med power map.

Leviathan is operated by Chevron. Tamar is now backed by Israeli, American, Azerbaijani, and Emirati capital. Karish is controlled by Energean, the London-listed Greek-founded operator. Egypt is locked into a $35 billion gas contract through 2040. Jordan depends on Israeli supply for power generation. Europe receives Israeli gas indirectly through Egyptian LNG.

Then came the 33-day February–April 2026 shutdown.

Leviathan and Karish went offline. Tamar stayed running. Egypt's replacement fuel bill surged. Jordan paid millions per day in extra costs. The lesson was clear: Israeli gas has become regional infrastructure — and regional leverage.

This is the map.

Field	Operator	Largest Holder	Reserves	Export Role	Key Buyers
Leviathan	Chevron (39.66%)	NewMed Energy (45.34%)	~600 bcm / 22 tcf	Major exporter	Israel domestic, Egypt, Jordan
Tamar	Chevron (25%)	Isramco (28.75%)	13.73 tcf / 389 bcm	Mid exporter	Israel domestic, Egypt (Blue Ocean)
Karish	Energean (100%)	Energean (100%)	437 mmboe (2P, combined w/ Karish North)	Domestic only	Israeli power generation, industrials
Cluster I	SOCAR (lead)	SOCAR + BP + NewMed (~⅓ each)	Exploration phase	—	—

The Stack at a Glance

Three fields produce. Two operators dominate. Capital comes from six countries.

• Leviathan — ~600 billion cubic meters (22 trillion cubic feet) of recoverable gas. Operated by Chevron. Largest holder: NewMed Energy, controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva's Delek Group.
• Tamar — 389 billion cubic meters (13.73 trillion cubic feet, NSAI assessment). Also operated by Chevron. Seven-way partnership including American, Israeli, Azerbaijani, and Emirati capital.
• Karish — 193.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (Karish) plus 244 million barrels of oil equivalent (Karish North), 2P. Operated 100% by Energean.
• Cluster I — 660-square-mile exploration zone north of Leviathan. SOCAR (Azerbaijan) leads. BP and NewMed each hold roughly a third.

Field 1: Leviathan — The Export Anchor

Discovered 2010 off Haifa. First gas December 2019. Currently producing approximately 14 billion cubic meters per year after a third gathering pipeline went online in March 2026.

Working interest:

• Chevron Mediterranean Limited — 39.66% (operator). Subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX). Took over operatorship in 2020 through Chevron's acquisition of Noble Energy.
• NewMed Energy LP — 45.34%. Largest single holder. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NWMD). Controlled (55%) by the Delek Group, which is controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva. Renamed from Delek Drilling in February 2022.
• Ratio Energies LP — 15%. Independent Israeli partnership. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (RATI).

In January 2026, the consortium took a $2.36 billion Final Investment Decision to expand Leviathan capacity to roughly 21 billion cubic meters per year. First gas from the expansion is targeted for the second half of 2029. A subsequent Stage 2 is planned to raise capacity to roughly 23 billion cubic meters annually.

Leviathan is the central asset in the $35 billion Egypt contract. Signed August 2025. Approved by Prime Minister Netanyahu in December 2025. 130 billion cubic meters of gas to Egypt's Blue Ocean Energy through 2040. Half of the proceeds — roughly $18 billion — flow to the Israeli state as royalties and taxes over the life of the deal.

Field 2: Tamar — The Strategic Backbone

Discovered January 2009. First gas March 2013. Israel's second-largest field and its operational backbone — the only platform to stay online during the February–April 2026 Hormuz war shutdown.

Working interest (post-SOCAR close, June 27, 2025):

• Chevron Mediterranean Limited — 25% (operator).
• Isramco Negev 2 LP — 28.75%. Israeli partnership; the largest single Tamar holder.
• Tamar Petroleum (TASE: TMRP) — 16.75%. Tel Aviv-listed vehicle. SOCAR holds 17.9% of this entity.
• Union Energy — 11%. Controlled by Israeli billionaire Aaron Frenkel. SOCAR holds 48.3% of this entity.
• Mubadala Energy — 11%. State of Abu Dhabi's investment arm.
• Dor Gas Exploration — 4%.
• Everest Infrastructure — 3.5%.

The most consequential ownership shift in Israeli gas in years came in June 2025, when SOCAR — the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan — acquired an effective 10% net Tamar interest through a transaction package valued at approximately $1.25 billion, executed via stakes in Aaron Frenkel's Union Energy and Tamar Petroleum vehicles. Mubadala Energy, Abu Dhabi's state oil arm, sits on the same field at 11%, having bought into Tamar in 2021 from Delek Drilling for approximately $1 billion.

Tamar reserves were independently reassessed at 13.73 trillion cubic feet (389 billion cubic meters) by Netherland, Sewell & Associates. A Phase 2 expansion is underway: a $24 million investment plus a new sales agreement with Egypt's Blue Ocean Energy adds 4 billion cubic meters per year for 11 years (43 bcm total). Overall Tamar production will rise approximately 60% from 2026.

Field 3: Karish — The Domestic Power Base

Discovered 2013. First gas October 2022. Operated and 100%-owned by Energean — the London-listed, Greek-founded independent (LON: ENOG), led by CEO Mathios Rigas.

Karish produces gas via the Energean Power FPSO, positioned 90 km offshore northern Israel. FPSO capacity: 8 billion cubic meters per year. The vessel also handles Karish North (first gas February 2024) and the forthcoming Katlan tie-back.

Combined 2P reserves across Karish and Karish North: 437 million barrels of oil equivalent.

All Karish gas is sold into the Israeli domestic market — approximately 80% to power generation under long-term take-or-pay contracts, 20% to industrial users. Karish does not export. It is Israel's domestic power base.

Energean took a $1.2 billion Final Investment Decision on the Katlan tie-back in July 2024, developing the Athena and Zeus discoveries. First gas H1 2027. Licenses run through 2044 with a 10-year extension option.

Cluster I — The Next Basin

Six exploration licenses awarded October 30, 2023 — weeks after the Hamas attack froze the broader Israeli bid round. The consortium: SOCAR (lead), BP, and NewMed Energy, with BP and NewMed each holding approximately one-third. The 660-square-mile zone sits in the northern Israeli EEZ, adjacent to Leviathan and west of Energean's Karish licenses.

The Cluster I award marked BP's return to Israeli exploration after a multi-year absence and SOCAR's deepest Eastern Mediterranean commitment. First exploration wells are expected within the license period.

Where the Gas Goes

Domestic consumption absorbs the largest share of Israeli gas production. Power generation runs primarily on Tamar, Leviathan, and Karish. Industrial users take the balance.

Exports run to two countries today, three later this decade:

• Egypt — The $35 billion contract is the largest export deal in Israeli history. 130 billion cubic meters through 2040 to Blue Ocean Energy. The deal also enables Egypt's LNG export terminals to redirect Israeli gas to European customers, making Israel an indirect supplier to the European Union.
• Jordan — Pipeline commissioned 2019; first flow 2020. Israeli gas supplies more than half of all Jordanian natural gas consumption, which itself accounts for 68% of Jordan's electricity generation per NEPCO 2024 data. Annual import volume: approximately 3 billion cubic meters under the 2016 NEPCO-Leviathan contract.
• Europe — Indirect via Egyptian LNG re-export today. A direct Eastern Mediterranean pipeline through Cyprus and Greece remains under discussion. A new Nitzana pipeline to Egypt is required for Stage 2 of the Egyptian contract.

2025 export figures: Israeli gas to Egypt and Jordan combined reached approximately 13.2 billion cubic meters, up 13% from 2024.

Adjacent Infrastructure — Not Natural Gas

Israel's gas system runs alongside one state-owned liquid-fuels asset of strategic significance: the Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC). EAPC handles crude oil, not natural gas. It sits beside the gas system, not within it. But as Israel's principal state-owned liquid-fuels infrastructure, it is a structural piece of the broader energy map.

EAPC is wholly owned by the State of Israel. Founded 1968 as a covert Israel-Iran joint venture, restructured 2019 as a government company under the Government Companies Law (2020). Audited by the State Comptroller in January 2025.

EAPC operates the 254-kilometer, 42-inch bidirectional Eilat–Ashkelon pipeline — the land bridge between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean — with capacity to move approximately 30 million metric tons of crude per year. Eilat oil port accommodates tankers up to 350,000 dwt; Ashkelon up to 250,000 dwt. The October 2020 binding MOU with MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd opened the line for UAE oil transit — the first post-Abraham Accords energy commercial arrangement.

The Capital Map

Behind the working-interest tables sits a six-country capital structure.

American. Chevron Corporation operates both producing fields. Its Eastern Mediterranean position alone — Leviathan, Tamar, and Cyprus's Aphrodite — is one of the most strategically concentrated in any single regional play.

Israeli. The Delek Group, controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, holds 55% of NewMed Energy, which holds 45.34% of Leviathan. Delek separately controls Ithaca Energy (UK North Sea, 89% ownership; acquired Eni's UK oil and gas assets in April 2024 in a £754 million share-based deal). Ratio Energies and Isramco are independent Israeli partnerships. Tamar Petroleum is a Tel Aviv-listed vehicle. Aaron Frenkel sits behind Union Energy and Tamar Petroleum minority stakes — the path through which SOCAR entered Tamar.

Azerbaijani. SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, holds an effective 10% Tamar interest and leads the Cluster I exploration consortium.

Emirati. Mubadala Energy holds 11% of Tamar — the State of Abu Dhabi's deepest position in Israeli gas, acquired in 2021 from Delek Drilling.

British. BP holds approximately one-third of Cluster I — the supermajor's first significant Israeli exploration position. Energean (LON: ENOG) is the London-listed, Greek-founded operator of Karish.

Greek. Energean PLC is led by Greek CEO Mathios Rigas and represents the largest Greek-anchored position in Israeli energy.

State of Israel. The state does not hold a direct working interest in any gas field. Its economic position runs through royalties and taxes. 2025 state revenue from gas royalties hit a record NIS 2.37 billion. Roughly half of all proceeds from the Egypt deal — approximately $18 billion over its life — flows to the Israeli treasury.

The Israeli Energy 20

Olam Research will publish The Israeli Energy 20 as the annual ranked index of the operators, partnerships, and infrastructure companies that drive Israel's energy economy. The 2026 edition launches alongside this map. Scoring runs across reserves, production, export contracts, strategic role, and multinational footprint. Annual May reissue.

Stress Test: February–April 2026

On February 28, 2026, Israel's Energy and Infrastructure Minister ordered Chevron and Energean to suspend production at Leviathan and Karish. The directive followed Israeli strikes on Iranian gas infrastructure during the Hormuz war. Both consortia declared force majeure.

Duration:

• Leviathan — 33 days (per NewMed bourse filing). Resumed early April 2026.
• Karish — approximately one month. Restarted on Israeli ministry authorization following the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
• Tamar — remained online.

Cost to the system:

• Egypt halted gas supplies to fertilizer and industrial users. According to Elai Rettig of the Begin-Sadat Center, Egypt's first-quarter 2026 LNG import bill tripled from roughly $560 million to $1.65 billion as Cairo replaced Israeli pipeline supply with seaborne cargoes.
• Jordan's NEPCO incurred additional operating costs of approximately $2.5 million per day (1.8 million Jordanian dinars), per the Jordanian energy minister.
• Energean reported standby costs of approximately $10 million per month and suspended its 2026 Israel production guidance.

This was the third major Israeli gas export disruption since October 7, 2023 — and the longest. The first followed the Hamas attack; Tamar shut for approximately five weeks while Leviathan stayed online. The second came in June 2025 during the 12-day Iran-Israel war. The third — February–April 2026 — exceeded both.

The result has been a measurable hardening of customer hedging. Jordan accelerated LNG imports through its Aqaba terminal. Egypt deepened relationships with Qatar and Italy's Eni for alternative LNG supply.

What Changes Next

The next 36 months reshape the map:

• Leviathan Phase 1B Stage 1 — first gas H2 2029. Capacity to ~21 billion cubic meters per year. Egypt Stage 2 of the $35 billion contract begins on completion. New Nitzana pipeline required.
• Tamar Phase 2 — Production up approximately 60% from 2026. +6 billion cubic meters per year. One-third of incremental gas allocated to Israeli domestic market.
• Karish Katlan tie-back — First gas H1 2027. +1.2 trillion cubic feet of 2P reserves into the Energean Power FPSO.
• Cluster I — First exploration wells expected within the license period. SOCAR, BP, and NewMed test the next-frontier basin.
• Leviathan Phase 1B Stage 2 — Capacity target ~23 billion cubic meters per year. FID expected "in the coming years" per NewMed disclosure.

Israel does not merely produce gas. It now sits inside the energy security calculations of Egypt, Jordan, Europe, Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi, BP, Chevron, and the Israeli treasury. That is the new East Mediterranean map.

FAQ

Who owns Leviathan?

Chevron Mediterranean Limited operates the field with a 39.66% working interest. NewMed Energy holds 45.34%; Ratio Energies holds 15%. Reserves: approximately 600 billion cubic meters (~22 trillion cubic feet).

Who operates Tamar?

Chevron Mediterranean Limited operates Tamar with a 25% stake. Other partners are Isramco (28.75%), Tamar Petroleum (16.75%), Union Energy (11%), Mubadala Energy (11%), Dor Gas (4%), and Everest (3.5%). Reserves: 13.73 trillion cubic feet (389 bcm) per NSAI.

How much gas does Israel export?

Israeli gas exports to Egypt and Jordan in 2025 reached approximately 13.2 billion cubic meters, up 13% from 2024. The August 2025 Egypt contract commits an additional 130 billion cubic meters through 2040 at a value of approximately $35 billion.

What is SOCAR's role in Israeli gas?

The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan acquired an effective 10% net interest in the Tamar field through a transaction package valued at approximately $1.25 billion. The deal closed June 27, 2025, executed via stakes in Union Energy (48.3%) and Tamar Petroleum (17.9%). SOCAR also leads the Cluster I exploration consortium alongside BP and NewMed.

What is Cluster I?

Cluster I is a 660-square-mile exploration zone in the northern Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone, adjacent to Leviathan. Six exploration licenses were awarded October 30, 2023 to a consortium of SOCAR (lead), BP, and NewMed Energy.

How long was Israeli gas shut during the Hormuz war?

Leviathan was shut for 33 days from February 28, 2026, restarting in early April. Karish was shut for approximately one month. Tamar remained online throughout. The shutdown was the third major Israeli gas export disruption since October 7, 2023, and the longest.