Fees and royalties from Israel's natural gas, oil, and minerals totaled NIS 864 million in 2019, down from NIS 878 million in 2018, the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources reported today, Trend with reference to Reuters reports.
Most of the revenue came from royalties on natural gas and oil, which totaled NIS 842 million in 2018, including NIS 836 million in royalties from the Tamar gas field, down 2.5% from 2018. The Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources said the fall was due to the strengthening of the shekel in 2019 as well as a breakdown in the tamar well in April. Since the Tamar gas field came on stream in 2013, the government's take has totaled NIS 5.18 billion.
NIS 2.7 million more came from the Meged (Givat Olam) license and another NIS 2.7 million from the small Yam Thetis gas field off Ashkelon. The Leviathan Partners, which began extracting gas at the end of December, paid NIS 327,000.
In addition to royalties on natural gas and oil, royalties on minerals totaled NIS 10.7 million and fees totaled NIS 5.6 million.
The Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources projects a major rise in revenue from royalties in 2020 to NIS 1.5 billion as a result of production from the Leviathan field.