Elif Bayraktar/Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share Despite the ongoing conflict in Gaza that has threatened to plunge the Mideast into a regional war, Israel鈥檚 upstream in 2025 is showing some signs of renewal. New exploration is on tap, and expansion plans are under way. But potential challenges remain, not least for major operator Chevron, which controls two of Israel's premier offshore gas fields 鈥� the 22 trillion cubic foot Leviathan and the 11 Tcf Tamar. Israeli officials are still debating whether to force the US major to divest from one of these projects, a move that would no doubt cast a pall over operating conditions in the country, where enthusiasm in the upstream is otherwise high. A recent interim report from the inter-ministerial Dayan Committee shows Israeli government ministries still have different views over whether to remove Chevron from Leviathan or Tamar, a mooted bid to boost the domestic hydrocarbons sector. The controversial push is led by officials in the finance ministry and the Competition Authority, who think forcing a Chevron divestiture would promote greater competition in the domestic sector. But the suggestion has angered some in the energy ministry, who prefer to work with operators to achieve policy goals "on pricing and competition and create a framework for new gas sales and purchase agreements to be signed," according to one Israeli official. The official insists that even though the April report mentions the forced-divestiture scheme, the threat has dissipated. He says finance officials are "gradually transitioning from actually thinking this is a good idea to looking at it as a bargaining chip." Chevron has declined to comment on the issue and maintains that the East Mediterranean is "a priority for us."
