What you need to know about the Tamar Gas Field?

Posted by alvina on August 31st, 2019

Natural gas fields have become a largely popular source for exploration because it is cheaper than oil and in higher demand around the world. Sometimes, they come with oil, a mix of methane and other gases under the surface of the Earth cooked by heat and pressure over many millenniums. Despite many concerns for its relation to climate change, it is high demand and there are multiple platforms in these fields where gas can be found. The Mediterranean Sea has some of these fields, most notable towards the East off the coast of Israel, which features the noted Tamar field.

The Tamar gas field is within Israel's exclusive economic zone 80 kilometers from the city of Haifa. At 1,700 meters deep, the Tamar field has an estimated 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Along with the field in Tamar south and its 23 billion cubic meters, the entire gas field has 123 billion cubic meters of reserves are present. When it was first found, Tamar was the largest field of gas or oil in the Levant basin and there have been more found in other comparable geological formations.

Explorations in the Levant basin began in 1999 when Israel gave permits to companies study the possibility of drilling into the Tamar field. In the next decade, natural gas was discovered in various places and drilling of the first Tamar platform began in 2008. Studies produced found that the formation with suspected gas was at a 35% chance rate and the platform went 4,900 meters deep. In 2009, gasps successfully found and a second platform drilling expanded the amount of their estimated reserves by a quarter more than initially predicted. The last decade has been in the contraction of extraction and export.

Production at the Tamar gas field current has eight platforms connected to a 93 mile long underwater pipe to the processing platform located right off the coastal city of Ashkelon. It has been working since 2013 and has risen its delivery capacity every two years since opening. First, it was 10 billion cubic meters, then, it was nearly 20 billion cubic meters. By 2018, the amount coming from the Tamar gas field was supporting 60% of Israel’s electrical power. The platform is operating 24/7 and houses 50 people and expanding; the cost of the expansion is around billion to meet the demand for both domestic and foreign markets.

There are many questions and conflicts about the Tamar gas field today for political and businesses reasons, making Tamar a very valuable commodity. It’s an expanding field where more and more natural gas can be sucked out for production and sale to neighboring countries including Egypt, Greece, and Lebanon, which then cane be sent out to the rest of Europe and the Eurasia land. Oil is facing a slow decline in production, allowing other sources being used. Natural gas, despite problems that it contributes to global warming, remains a popular commodity over renewable sources because of how many things natural gas powers in everyday life.