Chevron advances Leviathan expansion plans, partners approve pre-FEED budget

Chevron and Leviathan project partners approved a 2023 budget to advance Phase 1B development of the gas Leviathan reservoir offshore Israel.

The partners approved investment of $96.4 million as part of an expansion project that includes construction of a 4.6 million tonnes/year (tpy) floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant.

Leviathan gas field lies in Mediterranean Sea deep-water, 130 km west of Haifa, and holds estimated in-place gas volumes of 934 bcm (33 tcf) and estimated recoverable reserves of 605 bcm (22 tcf). The field came online at end-2019, producing 12 billion cu m/year (bcmy) of gas for sale to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan.

The consortium aims to increase gas production capacity by an additional 9 bcmy to about 21 bcmy to include volumes for sale to Europe.

The newly approved budget includes $44.9 million for pre-FEED and commencement of FEED and for expansion of the Leviathan production system, including the design of subsea infrastructure and necessary changes to the production platform. It also includes $51.5 million for pre-FEED for the FLNG plant.

Chevron Mediterranean Ltd. is operator of the Leviathan project with 39.66% interest. NewMed Energy LP holds 45.34% and Ratio Energies LP holds 15%.