The terrible disaster at Majdal Shams pushed the launch of a UAV by Hezbollah apparently targeted at the Karish gas production platform out of the headlines. The aircraft was shot down by a C-Dome system on board an Israel Navy Sa’ar 6 corvette.
For the time being, the gas platform continues to work routinely. Karish is the only production platform whose output is entirely for the domestic market. Last year, it supplied 34% of local consumption.
The possible effect of the war on the gas production platforms was brought home after October 7, when the Tamar platform was out of action for a month. Gas from the Leviathan reservoir meant for export had to be diverted to local use.
The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the Israel Navy coordinate action between them concerning the gas platforms, and where necessary decide on halting production. A situation of all-out war with Hezbollah that leads to the cessation of production from Karish will cause shock waves in Israel’s energy market. It will also affect Jordan and Egypt, which rely on gas imports from Israel, since Israel will need to look to other sources for its own needs.
A real threat to the Leviathan platform will be many times more serious. If both Karish and Leviathan are put out of action, Israel will have to change the mix of its power production fuel, and the cost of diesel and coal will be much higher than that of natural gas. Israel has however taken care to ensure a stock of fuel in case of an extreme situation in which two or more gas reservoirs are out of action, in accordance with pre-set procedures.
The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said, "The power production industry is ready to produce electricity from alternative fuels and has taken care to buy and store strategic stocks and back-up equipment, and has substantially increased its reserves of coal and alternative fuels in order to prevent harm to the supply chain."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 29, 2024.
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