While Israel faces growing international condemnation over its blockade of Gaza and the mass starvation of Palestinian children, operators of the offshore Leviathan gas field have signed what is reportedly the largest gas export agreement in the country’s history, Israeli business outlet Globes reported Thursday.
The partners, which include U.S. oil giant Chevron and two Israeli firms, NewMed Energy and Ratio Energies, have agreed to sell 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Egypt for $35 billion, the paper reported.
This represents 22% of the Leviathan field's total reserves and about 13% of Israel's overall natural gas resources.
"This is a historic day," NewMed Energy chief executive Yossi Abu told the paper. "Leviathan, the biggest natural gas field in the Mediterranean, is a tool for changing the strategic reality."
The agreement comes two days after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi criticized Israel for pursuing "a war of starvation and genocide" in Gaza, as he rejected claims that Cairo blocked life-saving aid from reaching the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel has heavily restricted aid to Gaza, which is slipping into a catastrophic famine.
It has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and displaced the entire population.
Following mounting international pressure on Israel, in late May, aid has only began trickling into Gaza, which borders Israel and Egypt.
NewMed Energy and Chevron have yet to reply to a dpa request for comment.
Under the new agreement, the volume of gas supplied to Egypt will be tripled compared to previous levels.
In 2019, a deal was signed for 19 billion cubic meters. Now, 20 billion cubic meters are to be delivered in the first half of 2026, followed by an additional 110 billion cubic metres after production is expanded.
Egypt will purchase the gas through the Blue Ocean Energy company.
Egypt, which produces natural gas from fields in the Mediterranean primarily for electricity generation, is increasingly reliant on imports due to rising energy demand.
In recent years, summer power outages have been frequent. The government in Cairo has promised that there will be no outages during this year's hot summer months.
