New gas field discovered off Israel’s coast

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A new natural gas field was discovered off Israel’s Mediterranean coast — the third largest found in Israeli waters.

The Royee field contains 3.2 trillion cubic feet of extractable natural gas, the Israeli business daily Globes reported, citing a report released Sunday by Ratio Oil and Israel Opportunity Energy Resources, which owns the field.

Royee, located about 93 miles from Israel’s coast, near the international maritime border with Cyprus and Egypt, ranks behind the Leviathan and Tamar fields.

Tamar, which has at least 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, is expected to meet Israel’s energy needs for the next 20 years. Leviathan is estimated to hold 16 trillion to 18 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Globes reported that Royee is unlikely to be developed soon due to the quantity of gas available in Leviathan and Tamar.