Israel's Tzemach Committee Recommends 50% Gas Exports

The Tzemach Committee on Energy Policy has recommended keeping half of Isarel's gas reserves for domestic use and rest for exports, media reports said.

The committee, chaired by director general of the Energy and Water Resources Ministry Shaul Tzemach, said that the country should have 400 billion cubic meters of gas as a strategic reserve at any given time. The committee also said that Israel will need about 420 BMC of gas by 2040. The country's current gas reserves are 750 BCM.

Large offshore fields will be allowed to export up to 50% of their reserves. Smaller fields may export more − up to 100% for fields of less than 50 bcm. This will provide an incentive to develop the smaller gas fields as they are often not economically viable, since the cost of drilling the wells is relatively fixed and similar for both small and large fields.