© Supplied by Energean An Israel gas shutdown is underway following the country’s strikes against Iran overnight. Expecting retaliation, the Israeli government intends to declare a state of emergency in the gas sector as it eyes Iran’s likely violent response.
Both Karish and Leviathan are offline, Energy Voice understands, while Tamar continues to produce.
Israel said on Friday that it had struck Iran. This came amid mounting tensions over US efforts to win Iran’s agreement to halt production of material for an atomic bomb.
Following this, London- and Israel-listed Energean has temporarily suspended production and activities at its Energean Power FPSO. This is the infrastructure linked to the Karish field. The company received notice from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure this morning.
The decision was taken in light of the “recent geopolitical escalation in the region”.
Energean issued notices to its customers and stakeholders. It is maintaining a “close dialogue” with the ministry to “facilitate the safe resumption of production as soon as possible”. Energean’s FPSO has previously been targeted by Hezbollah drones.
A ministry statement said it may order a “temporary shutdown” of gas production.
It expects to declare a state of emergency for gas, it said. This allows the ministry to allocate resources to consumers where there may be an impact on the economy’s function or the supply of electricity.
The ministry has opened a situation room in Jerusalem to ensure supply continuity.
Some reports in Israel have suggested strikes against Iran could continue for “two to three weeks”.
Wider production
Chevron-operated Leviathan is offline as a precaution, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Chevron did not specify the impact of the disruption on its Leviathan and Tamar fields.
“We can confirm that our people and facilities are safe,” said a Chevron representative. It directed further questions on energy supplies to Israel’s Ministry of Energy.
NewMed Energy has not yet responded to a request for comment on the fields.
Tamar and Leviathan supply gas domestically and export to Egypt, which is short of gas and has recently struck deals to import more LNG. Reducing Israeli gas exports will put pressure on Cairo.
Tamar continues to produce, sustaining Israel’s power and gas needs.
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals has responded to the stoppages by activating its own emergency plan for natural gas. This involves halting supplies to some industries while increasing diesel consumption.
The Egyptian ministry noted that three FSRUs were currently available to the country and one was actively supplying gas. The minister, Tarek El-Molla, has visited the port of Ain Sokhna in order to accelerate the connection of the third FSRU.
© Supplied by Egypt's Ministry ofInfrastructure warning
Iran threatened a “severe response” against Israel for the attack on top security commanders and the Natanz nuclear facility. The strikes killed the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Air Force.
Tehran has threatened Israel with a “bitter, painful fate”. Iran’s armed forces have said there would be “no constraints on responding to this crime“.
Neither the US nor the UK were involved in the strikes on Iran. However, US personnel have been drawn down in the region in expectation they may be a target.
Ashley Kelty at Panmure Gordon said the attacks had “upended” energy markets. Crude prices jumped 10% initially before fading back.
“It is far too early to call what the ramifications of the actions this morning will be, but it the shape of response from Iran will feed through into energy markets to a major extent,” Kelty said.
“We would anticipate that Iran will look to attack Israel directly and to expand to target regional infrastructure in order to bring pressure from Western powers on Israel to back down”. These attacks could include efforts to shut off the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting 20 million barrels per day of oil and LNG shipments.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its guidance for Israel this morning. It has warned the “situation could escalate quickly and could pose significant risks, including missile fire”.
The FCDO has also updated travel warnings for Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Cyprus, the UAE, Libya, Tunisia, Lebanon, Yemen, Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The warnings say hostilities between Iran and Israel “could escalate quickly and pose security risks for the wider region”.
Updated at 15:32 to confirm Leviathan is offline.
Updated at 16:10 with news of Egypt’s response.
