The Ministry of Environmental Protection today notified Noble Energy, operator of the Leviathan drilling platform, that it was rejecting the request for an emissions permit in its current form, due to a discrepancy in the number of components on the platform.
Noble Energy's request, which was revised in June 2018, states that there will be 1,403 equipment components on the platform with potential for leaking organic material, a possible source of emissions. The Ministry of Environmental Protection's experts who examined the feasibility of the data and the request demanded that Noble Energy re-examine this number.
Following the repeat examination by an external company, Noble Energy revised the number of components to 8,852, a substantial and unacceptable change. The Ministry of Environmental Protection accordingly rejected Noble Energy's current request.
The Leviathan partners stated in response, "The Leviathan partnership appreciates the importance of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's work and supervision. As part of the professional assessments and at the request of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, an examination was conducted, following which the number of components on the drilling platform was revised. Another examination by a third party conducted for Noble Energy by an external company found that under the prevailing rigorous models for platforms in the North Sea, there is no change in the figures sent by the company for emissions. At the request of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, we will submit a request for an emissions permit in accordance with the new number of components. At the same time, we are taking measures to ensure that the emissions will be lower than the number we originally declared in order to fulfill our obligation, and even lower than what was promised. As we have done up until now, we will continue to operate with transparency and responsibility towards the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the public. The Leviathan drilling platform, which was constructed with the best technology and the strict OECD standards, will begin supplying gas in late 2019. It will not harm the quality of air on land and on the beach, will not pollute the sea, and will substantially improve air quality in Israel."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 6, 2018
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018