Chevron Mediterranean Ltd. (CML), a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., together with its partners in the Leviathan natural gas reservoir, has reached a Final Investment Decision (FID) to expand the production capacity of the Leviathan production platform located offshore Israel. The approved expansion includes drilling three additional offshore wells, installing new subsea infrastructure, and enhancing the gas‑processing systems on the platform. According to Chevron, the objective of the project is to increase total gas delivery to Israel and neighboring markets to approximately 741 bcf (21 bcm) annually.
The Leviathan platform is located about 6 miles (10 km) off the coast of Dor, Israel, and is jointly owned by Chevron Mediterranean Ltd. as operator (39.66%), NewMed Energy (45.34%), and Ratio Energies (15%).
“Chevron is a leading energy player in the Eastern Mediterranean where we are focused on natural gas production and exports. Our operations are critical to meeting the growing energy needs of local and regional markets,” said Clay Neff, president of Chevron Upstream.
“Our decision to invest in the expansion of Leviathan’s production capacity reflects our confidence in the future of energy in the region. Pragmatic US and regional energy policies are helping to strengthen energy security across the Eastern Mediterranean and foster an environment that encourages investment in the Middle East and globally.”
The Leviathan expansion project is expected to come online towards the end of this decade.
The newly announced FID represents the latest phase in a multiyear development program that began after the Leviathan field was discovered in December 2010. The earliest major development effort, known as Phase 1A, received its final investment decision in February 2017 as a US$3.75‑billion project. Phase 1A brought the field online in December 2019 with an initial processing capacity of approximately 423 bcf (12 bcm) per year. The Phase 1A platform was purposely designed with modular expansion in mind, allowing future production increases to be integrated into the original infrastructure. NewMed Energy has stated that the platform was engineered so that its output could be expanded from 423 bcf to 741 bcf by adding equipment modules, a capability that directly supports the newly approved expansion.
After Phase 1A began production, partners advanced planning for a larger expansion known as Phase 1B. The Israeli Ministry of Energy approved Phase 1B on August 21, 2025. Phase 1B was structured as a multi‑stage project, with the first stage consisting of three additional production wells, new subsea systems, and processing upgrades aimed at increasing production capacity to roughly 741.6 bcf per year.
Stage 2 of Phase 1B envisioned further increasing capacity to approximately 812 bcf (23 bcm) per year through the installation of a fourth pipeline linking the field to the platform and further subsea enhancements, although that stage remains contingent on regulatory approvals and additional investment decisions.
The field’s expansion planning has also been influenced by major regional export arrangements, particularly a landmark natural gas export deal announced in August 2025. Under this agreement, NewMed Energy and its partners doubled their long-term contractual export commitments to Egypt, making it the largest gas export deal in Israel’s history. To support the expanded export volume, infrastructure upgrades such as a third pipeline from the reservoir to the platform were scheduled for completion in early 2026, enabling annual production to exceed 0.5 tcf (14.16 bcm). Further commitments tied to Phase 1B would be met only after a fourth transmission pipeline is constructed via Nitzana, an expansion that would raise Leviathan’s production capacity to approximately 0.74 tcf (20.95 bcm) per year. These export‑driven infrastructure enhancements reflect Leviathan’s growing importance as an energy hub for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Taken together, the newly approved FID, the foundational development work of Phase 1A, the forward‑looking planning of Phase 1B, and the significant regional export agreements all demonstrate the Leviathan partners’ long-term strategy of transforming the field into one of the principal natural gas suppliers in the Middle East. The platform’s modular design and the region’s rising energy demand have aligned to make this latest expansion both technically feasible and economically compelling.
