In 2012 when gas exports from Egypt to Israel were officially halted and the oil minister who signed off on the deal put behind bars, it looked highly unlikely that little over a decade later Israel would be supplying Egypt with over 800mn cfd of gas with an eye on doubling these volumes by 2027.

But such plans are afoot. Majority stakeholder at the key 23tcf Leviathan gas field, Israeli firm NewMed Energy (45.34%) outlined during its Q1 call on 11 May plans to increase current operable Israel-Egypt export capacity from the current 9 bcm/y (around 900mn cfd) to 20 bcm/y (1.9bn cfd) by 2027. This comes as actual deliveries hit a monthly record 927mn cfd for March, a fifth straight month above the never-before-hit 800mn cfd level with Q1 seeing a quarterly record of 865mn cfd. Pipeline constraints within Israel mean that 900mn cfd volumes are not likely to be sustainable as Israeli domestic demand hits its summer peak. (CONTINUED - 1160 WORDS)