Murphy Oil and Ratio Win Six Israeli Offshore Gas Licenses

· Oil & Gas · Israel

Israel's Energy Ministry on Monday awarded six offshore natural gas exploration licenses to Houston-based Murphy Oil and Israel's Ratio Energies. The Zone G licenses cover about 1,700 square kilometers of seabed roughly 25 kilometers south of the Leviathan field. The award comes eight months after the war with Iran forced Israel to shut its biggest gas field, underscoring the country's push to broaden its upstream base and reduce reliance on a handful of large fields. For Murphy, the licenses mark a deeper move into Eastern Mediterranean gas; for Ratio, an expansion of its Israeli portfolio alongside the country's established producers.

Why it matters：New Eastern Mediterranean acreage deepens the region's role as a gas supply source for Israel, Egypt and Europe, and shows international majors and independents still willing to commit capital there despite recent conflict risk.

Key points

  • The Zone G licenses cover about 1,700 square kilometers of seabed.
  • The acreage lies roughly 25 kilometers south of the Leviathan field.
  • The award follows the Iran war's shutdown of Israel's largest gas field eight months earlier.

Sources (original reporting)

More stories from this day