After marathon discussions last night between the Leviathan partners and Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, a final agreement was reached that will allow the export of 130 BCM (billion cubic meters) to Egypt for $35 billion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will sign the agreement in the next 24 hours, possibly even as early as tonight.
As part of the agreement, the Leviathan Partners, NewMed Energy (TASE: NWMD), Chevron and Ratio Petroleum Energy (TASE: RTPT), will commit to a guaranteed price for the domestic economy, in a step that will reintroduce the gas outline agreement of a decade ago. The Leviathan partners have also pledged to give priority to the Israeli economy, so that if there are any malfunctions in the Tanin, Karish or Tamar fields, it will transfer gas directly to the local economy.
Netanyahu has pushed to approve the agreement ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump on December 29, and the administration’s backing for US company Chevron. After the Israeli government finally approves the agreement, the partners are expected to make an investment decision to expand the Leviathan field infrastructure, with this process also lasting – at most – two weeks, completing approval of the entire export process to Egypt before Netanyahu arrives in Washington.
Qatar sought to take advantage of the situation
As revealed by “Globes,” Qatar sought to take advantage of the delays in approving the agreement by convincing Egypt to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from it instead.
The initial $35 billion agreement between the Leviathan partners and Egypt was signed in August. The agreement will finance the expansion of production from the Leviathan reservoir and the construction of a new export pipeline to Egypt via Nitzana.
The expectation was that Israeli approval would be reached within two months, but the final export permit was delayed. A major reason for the delay stemmed from new demands by the Ministry of Energy: For exports to Egypt, the Leviathan partners were required to spread the exports beyond 2040, a date anchored in the original contract, in order to sell to the Israeli economy at an even lower price than that set in the gas outline plan that expired four years ago.
The main reason Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was reluctant to approach Qatar was because its leader Emir Tamim al-Thani is a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which also threatens al-Sisi domestically.
Instead, Egypt recently turned to a $4 billion LNG agreement with US merchant commodities firm Hartree Partners. However, this involved a volume that did not come close to the 130 BCM agreed by the Leviathan partners, which constitutes about 22% of the field and close to 13% of Israel’s total gas capacity.
“Globes” has learned that a number of senior American officials, led by Trump, have been involved for a long time in trying to resolve the impasse. US Ambassador to Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright have been involved in the matter, with Wright canceling his planned visit to Israel for the signing ceremony at the last minute about a month ago, due to Israel’s refusal to approve the deal.
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One of the issues that senior Washington officials have been dealing with is ensuring that US energy major Chevron, which owns 39.66% of Leviathan, remains committed to the deal. The company owns much more significant assets in the US, Kazakhstan, and Australia, and voices have suggested it may be appropriate to redirect the intended investment in another direction.
Serious situation in the Egyptian economy
The basis for that huge deal is the serious situation in which the Egyptian energy sector finds itself. The combination of extremely high population growth, from 44 million in 1981 to 100 million in 2020, global warming, and a fundamental failure in the management of local energy resources has brought the country to a situation in which it agreed to sign such an agreement even during the war.
In 2021, Egypt’s annual production rate reached a peak of 71 BCM. However, malfunctions resulting from irresponsible production at excessively high rates led to a fall in production at an average annual rate of 14%, to only 45 BCM in 2024, while Egypt’s annual consumption stands at about 70 BCM. A situation that the al-Sisi regime is struggling to cope with.
The export deal will finance two major Leviathan infrastructure projects: a pipeline from the field to the production platform, which will increase the annual production rate from 12 to 14 BCM, and the connection of the Ashkelon-Ashdod transmission line, which will increase the transmission capacity from Ashkelon to El-Arish in Egypt by 2 BCM. In the long term, for the partnership, this is an anchor that will allow the expansion of production capacities from Leviathan to 21-23 BCM per year, double the production rate last year.
Responses from the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure have not yet been forthcoming.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on December 9, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
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