Israel's natural gas production soars 22% amid plans to boost exports to Europe

• Israel's natural gas production jumped 22% in the first half of the year, Bloomberg data shows.
• The nation's royalties from gas, minerals, and fees climbed 50%, with most of that coming from gas exports.

Israel's natural gas production jumped in the first half of 2022 amid plans to boost exports to Europe as it faces a worsening energy crisis.

Production hit 10.85 billion cubic meters in the year through June, up 22%, according to Energy Minister Karine Elharrar, who added that production will continue to grow. Exports to Israel's neighbors jumped 35% to 4.59 billion cubic meters, while royalties from gas, minerals and fees surged 50% to about $253 million.

The jump in output comes as Israel looks to increase exports. In June, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union inked a trilateral agreement to ramp up natural gas supplies from Israel to the continent.

Israel will send gas to Egypt, and those flows will be redirected to Europe, which is stockpiling gas ahead of the winter.

With Russia limiting natural gas flows to Europe, member-nations have had to increasingly turn to other supplies. The supply crunch has sent prices soaring. Dutch TTF gas futures, the benchmark gas price for Europe, have climbed 220% since the start of June.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported Wednesday that Norway has overtaken Russia as Europe's biggest supplier of natural gas. Its gas production is on pace to rise 8% this year, which would mark a new record for the Nordic country.

"I expect that we can maintain the production levels we are at now until 2030," Norway's energy minister said.