Israel’s natural gas exports rose to 13.2 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2024, up from 11.6 BCM in 2023, Israel’s Natural Gas Authority has reported. This increase continues the dramatic upward trend of recent years, since production began from the offshore Leviathan gas field in December 2019, and from the Karish gas field in October 2022. Since 2021, gas exports from Israel have increased by 86%. This means that 49% of Israel’s gas production is currently exported, while 51% remains for domestic consumption.
Israel’s gas exports mainly reach Egypt, via the EMG pipeline and the gas transmission system in Jordan. In total, Egypt buys 10 BCM of gas from Israel per year. Jordan itself buys 3.1 BCM of gas from Israel. According to the Natural Gas Authority’s forecasts, gas demand in Jordan and even more so in Egypt is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, which means that their dependence on Israeli gas will remain high. Between 2021 and 2024, Israeli natural gas exports to Egypt more than doubled.
Excessive exports will leave Israel without sufficient gas reserves
The scale of exports mean large profits for both the energy companies and the Ministry of Finance, through the royalties they pay and through the excess profits tax that goes to the Israeli Citizens Fund (sovereign wealth fund). On the other hand, there is concern that excessive exports will leave Israel without sufficient gas reserves for the coming years. This issue was discussed at length by the Dayan Committee on natural gas policy, where significant differences of opinion emerged between the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (which supports the continuation of the current export policy) and the Ministry of Finance (which is interested in expanding the need to preserve gas for the domestic economy).
In the domestic market, about 80% of the gas in Israel is used for electricity, and the rest for industrial use. In recent years, Israel Natural Gas Lines has been expanding its gas distribution network in Israel, and currently has a cumulative length of 729 kilometers of gas pipelines, compared to 662 kilometers last year and 414 kilometers in 2020. Israel Natural Gas Lines operates with the help of outsourcing to local companies that connect gas plants, but in the Jerusalem area, the company reclaimed the local operator’s pipelines after it failed to connect enough customers.
The price of gas in Israel is considered particularly stable, and has been around $4.5 per thermal unit continuously since the start of 2022. This is unusual compared to the volatile prices in Europe, which at the end of 2024 was $14.2 per thermal unit. But the price in Israel is higher than in the US, which is also considered stable due to extensive local production, and is currently $3 per thermal unit. The relatively stable and low gas price in Israel helps keep electricity prices low compared with Europe, despite the many costs and delays in electricity production and distribution.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 29, 2025.
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