Israel's natural gas and oil revenues totaled 472 million new shekels (about 140 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2020 (H1), according to a report released Monday by the state's Ministry of Energy.
The report includes revenues from royalties from natural gas, oil and minerals, as well as fees, which all together amounted to about 142.7 million dollars in January-June 2020.
This is an increase of 12.7 percent compared to the same period last year, when revenues totaled 126.6 million dollars.
Most of Israel's natural gas revenues came from the natural gas produced at Tamar and Leviathan fields in the Mediterranean Sea.
The royalties from the Tamar amounted to 74 million dollars in H1 from a production of about 3.4 billion cubic meters (BCM).
This is a decline of 39.5 percent compared to the same period last year, due to decreased demands amid the coronavirus crisis, as well as decrease of sales to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) which transferred 72 percent of its purchases to Leviathan field.
The total royalties collected from the Leviathan, which began operating at the end of 2019, amounted to 66 million dollars in H1 from a production of 3.1 BCM.
Most of Leviathan natural gas sales were to the IEC, as well as exports to neighboring countries Jordan and Egypt.
The ministry expects that total royalties from Tamar and Leviathan fields will amount to 172 million dollars in H2, if there are no drastic changes caused by the coronavirus crisis.
In addition, royalties from minerals totaled about 1.36 million dollars in H1, a decrease of 10.2 percent compared to January-June 2019.
Editor:Cherie
