WorldTribune.com
4/3/2013
TEL AVIV — Israel has reported the flow of natural gas from a major offshore field.
The government and an energy consortium said gas from Israel’s Tamar field in the eastern Mediterranean began to flow on March 30.
The government said Tamar was believed to contain 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, which could result in a drop in electricity rates.
“We are taking an important step toward energy independence,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Tamar, discovered in 2009 and located 90 kilometers from the Israeli coast, was one of two major reserves reported in the Mediterranean. Leviathan, the second field, was said to contain a larger reserve.
The project has been led by the U.S. firm Noble Energy, with a 36 percent stake in Tamar.
Update: A Major Breakthrough in Natural Gas Development
