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Hadera FSRU Terminal is an LNG import terminal in Sharon, Israel.
Location
Project Details
- Owner: Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd [100%][1]
- Parent company: Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd [100%][1]
- Vessel owner: Excelerate Energy[1]
- Vessel: Excelsior FSRU[2]
- Location: Hadera, Haifa, Sharon, Israel
- Coordinates: 32.45, 34.916667 (approximate)
- Capacity: 3.8 mtpa[3]
- Status: Idle[3]
- Type: Import[4]
- Start year: 2013[1]
Background
Hadera LNG Terminal is an LNG terminal in Sharon, Israel.[5]
Hadera is a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit located six miles offshore. It is Israel's first import terminal.[6]
According to Petroleum Economist, Israel is the only country in the world where offloading of LNG is done ship-to-ship in seas. This limits the number of entities able to offload.[7]
Israel's demand for LNG increased after Egyptian supplies disrupted in 2011 and 2012, prompting improvements in LNG infrastructure.[8] In 2013, Hadera LNG completed the construction of a receiving buoy that transmits gas into Israel's transmission lines. The Submerged Turret Loading Buoy is a connection point to the LNG gasification ships. The buoy can transmit 1.5 to 2 billion cubic feet of gas a year. [9]
It was reported in 2016 that the Israeli government imported LNG from Trinidad for 14% less than it payed for gas from Tamar, Israel's only offshore reservoir at the time.
With the increased exploitation of Israel's domestic gas reserves in the Leviathan and Tamar fields, discovered in 2009 and 2010, respectively, Israeli LNG imports began to diminish progressively over time.[2] From 2020 to 2021, the Middle East experienced a 5.4% decline in LNG imports, with Israel experiencing the largest decline in the region.[10]
In December 2022, the Excelsior FSRU left Hadera import terminal, after having received its last LNG cargo delivery in October 2021.[2] The vessel was set to undergo a dry docking before being installed in Germany's Wilhelmshaven port for a five-year contract that will begin in the fall of 2023.[2][11] The departure of the Excelsior FSRU left Israel with no LNG import capacity.[2]
As of 2024, the terminal continues to be idle.[3]
Israel's gas use and reserves
As of 2017 natural gas provided 70% of Israel’s electric power. Most of it was imported, particularly from Egypt, through the Arish-Ashkelon pipeline.[12]
Israel's demand for imported LNG began in 2011 following the disruption of Egyptian supplied gas and the depletion of the offshore Yam Tethys reservoir.[8]
The country, however, began moving to develop its domestic reserves after 2011. Israel’s known gas reserves were 30 trillion cubic feet. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2013 estimated at least twice as much could be had offshore that count meet Israel’s energy needs for the next 30 to 50 years.[13] Reuters reported in 2013 that the USGS predicts the greater eastern Mediterranean’s Levant basin could hold up to 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. This would make it one of the world’s largest gas deposits.[14]
In 2010 Israel had declared it would use its natural gas reserves to power cars and trucks, but according to a 2017 study by the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy, the country had done little to meet this goal.[12]
As of 2014, Israel produced over 7.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year, and only exported to Palestinian territories.[15]
In 2009 and 2010, two major offshore gas deposits, the Tamar and Leviathan fields, were discovered.[2] However, although reserves amounting to almost 900 billion cubic meters were found, the exploitation of these resources was delayed by regulatory uncertainty until around 2017, when a final investment decision for the development of the initial phase of the development plan for the Leviathan field was reached.[2]
In August 2017 Haaretz reported that Egypt could open up its markets to Israel gas. In early August 2017 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi signed legislation forming a gas regulatory authority and permitting private companies to import gas.[16] In 2020, Israel began importing gas to Egypt through the Arish-Ashkelon pipeline.[17]
Even though Israel was historically almost entirely dependent on oil and gas imports, the discoveries of the Tamar and Leviathan fields have allowed the country to become more independent by shifting its economy to rely on its domestic gas reserves.[17] In 2023, the estimated gas reserves for Israel were 1,087 billion cubic meters. This has allowed Israel to become an energy exporter, primarily to countries like Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.[2][17]
War in Ukraine and European energy crisis
During 2022 and 2023, European energy markets shifted as as result of the war in Ukraine, creating opportunities for countries in the Middle East to develop gas and oil export projects to meet growing European demands for energy.[18] Although Israel's deposits are large for the country, they're small compared to European demand; therefore, because of the relatively small quantities of gas available in Israel, the difficult topography of the Mediterranean, and the geopolitical complexities of the maritime borders in the region, exporting gas from Israel to Europe has historically proved to be too expensive and inefficient.[18]
However, with rising demands from Europe, Israel and neighboring countries like Cyprus have been looking at LNG as an alternative to export gas to Europe while ridding themselves of the geopolitical complexities of constructing pipelines.[18] One of the cheapest and most efficient way for Israel to export gas to Europe is through existing terminals in Egypt (Idku and Damietta).[18] However, other projects like a land-based LNG export terminal in Cyprus, a proposed LNG export terminal in Israel, and the EastMed Pipeline are additional alternatives to export gas to Europe.[17][18]
Middle East and LNG imports
Israel is not the only country rich with gas reserves in the Middle East to import gas. Countries in one the most gas rich regions import LNG by tanker. They include Mina Al-Ahmadi LNG Terminal in Kuwait in 2009, Jebel Ali FLNG Terminal in Dubai in 2010, Hadera LNG Terminal in Israel in 2013, Jordan through Aqaba Jordan LNG Terminal in 2015, Ruwais LNG Terminal in Abu Dhabi in 2016. The city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates plan to import LNG in 2018. Bahrain plans to import LNG through its Bahrain Hidd FLNG Terminal in 2019. It was reported in 2017 that even Saudi Arabia is considering LNG imports.[19]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The LNG Industry: Annual Report 2020, page 53, International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers, accessed April 29, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Excelsior FSRU leaves Israel | Argus Media". 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 GIIGNL (2024). "GIIGNL Annual Report 2024" (PDF). GIIGNL. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Hadera Deepwater LNG Terminal | Excelerate Energy | Integrated LNG Solutions". Excelerate Energy. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
- ↑ Hadera LNG Terminal, Company, accessed April 2017
- ↑ Hadera LNG Terminal, Company, accessed August 2017
- ↑ Gina Cohen, "Israel: More gas customers, please," Petroleum Economist, September 12, 2017.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hedy Cohen, "What does Israel Electric Corp actually pay for gas?," Globes, April 10, 2016.
- ↑ Sharon Udasin, "LNG Gas To Start Flowing Into Israel," The Jerusalem Post, January 23, 2013.
- ↑ "International Gas Union 2022 World LNG Report" (PDF). International Gas Union. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Habibic, Ajsa (October 26, 2022). "Germany to deploy Excelerate's FSRU from 2023". Offshore Energy. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 Oren Dori, "Israeli Government Failing to Encourage Natural Gas Use in Transport Sector," Haaretz, August 2, 2017.
- ↑ Martin Fletcher, "Israel’s Big Gusher," Slate, February 26, 2014.
- ↑ Reuters Staff, "Gazprom banks on floating terminal for Israeli LNG," Reuters, February 27, 2013.
- ↑ "Natural gas - production," CIA The World Factbook, accessed Oct 2017
- ↑ Eran Azran, "Egypt Clears the Way for Imports of Israeli Natural Gas," Haaretz, August 9, 2017.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "Oil & Natural Gas in Israel". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Elai Rettig (2023-03-12). "Israel's Energy Market and the War in Ukraine". Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- ↑ Robin M. Mills, "The great gasification wave has passed," LiveMint, August 17, 2017.
