The Israeli Energy Ministry on Thursday announced it had instructed the company operating the platform at the offshore natural gas field Karish to restore operations following the announcement of the two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
The ministry has decided to instruct Energean to begin restoring the Karish rig off Israel’s Mediterranean coast into operation, after assessing the situation and taking into account all relevant considerations, Israel said today.
Israel had ordered the Karish platform shut on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel started bombing Iran, as a precaution for safety reasons.
At the time, Chevron also declared force majeure at Israel’s giant Leviathan natural gas field after the government ordered a temporary suspension of production on security grounds.
In early March, Israel’s Energy Ministry directed operator Chevron to shut in Leviathan following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory action across the region. Partner NewMed Energy said the suspension followed guidance from security authorities, noting that regulators instructed the consortium to adjust operations in line with evolving security conditions, including the possibility of temporary production halts as the situation develops.
Leviathan was restarted at the end of last week, after Chevron and NewMed Energy received notice from the Israeli Energy Ministry to do so.
Now Israel is also ordering Energean plc to begin preparations to restart operations.
London-listed Energean on Thursday said it had received notice from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, permitting the safe restart and resumption of production and operations at its Energean Power FPSO.
Energean is working to safely restart production and resume normal operations in line with its operating procedures, the company said.
Despite the restart of the gas fields, the situation with the ceasefire and the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz remains fluid, with Iran signaling it is closing the chokepoint again after Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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