Israel’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure has directed Chevron Mediterranean to suspend natural gas production from the Leviathan Field, located 130 km offshore Haifa. The security measure comes as tensions escalate across the Middle East, with Iran having launched attacks on production facilities.

The enforced shutdown will temporarily impact gas supplies to Israel’s national grid and deliveries to customers in Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Leviathan’s gas is processed offshore before being transmitted to shore and fed into the Israeli system for onward distribution.

Leviathan produces through four subsea wells linked to a subsea manifold. Gas flows via two 120-km pipelines to the Leviathan platform in shallow water for processing, then moves ashore through export and domestic transmission routes.

Israel’s Commissioner of Petroleum Affairs also notified the Leviathan partners that, in light of recent developments and the special state of emergency on the home front, Chevron must be prepared to operate under flexible procedures.

Co-venturer NewMed Energy said the partners would notify customers of the activation of force majeure following the mandated production suspension.