Karish gas field

Overview

Karish is an offshore natural gas field more than fifty miles from the northern coast of Israel, entirely within Israel’s exclusive economic zone. It forms part of Israel’s development of offshore gas resources for domestic energy supply. Karish is smaller than the country’s larger producing fields, Leviathan and Tamar. Its significance grew beyond its size in 2022, when preparations to begin production coincided with renewed Israel–Lebanon maritime negotiations and threats from Hezbollah, a terrorist organization based in Lebanon.

Geography

Karish lies in the eastern Mediterranean, near the maritime area whose boundary Israel and Lebanon were negotiating. The production vessel serving Karish stood several kilometers south of that area. Karish North is a separate field. Their proximity to the boundary gave both fields a place in discussions about offshore resources, although Karish itself lies in Israel’s economic waters. The field’s offshore position requires production and transport infrastructure at sea, including a surface vessel and a pipeline carrying gas toward Israeli customers.

Modern history

Israel’s offshore gas industry developed through projects of different sizes. Gas sale contracts from Tamar helped finance development of Leviathan and the smaller Tanin and Karish fields. Energean developed Karish using Energean Power, a floating production, storage and offloading vessel built in Singapore. Using the vessel made Karish and two other smaller Energean fields commercially viable. Energean also secured contracts to supply Israeli power stations, connecting Karish’s development to domestic electricity generation.

During maritime negotiations in late 2020, Lebanon introduced Line 29, extending its earlier demand southward by 1,430 square kilometers to include a small part of Karish. Lebanon’s official exclusive economic zone position had not included Karish before 2020. The expanded demand increased attention on the field as the two countries pursued a maritime boundary through talks mediated by the United States. The line’s introduction did not change Karish’s location within Israel’s exclusive economic zone.

Energean Power arrived at Karish on June 5, 2022, for production preparations. Its arrival intensified tension between Israel and Lebanon. On June 6, Lebanon invited U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein to resume mediation. Energean was preparing to bring the field into production in the final quarter of 2022, while Lebanese figures debated how their country should pursue offshore gas development. On July 5, Lebanese politician Gebran Bassil urged blocking production at Karish until Lebanon could produce gas from Qana.

Security

On June 9, 2022, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to prevent Israel from producing gas at Karish. He invoked Hezbollah’s military, logistical and intelligence capabilities. The visible production vessel made offshore infrastructure a target for such threats. Hezbollah presented pressure on Karish as a way to secure Lebanon’s gas demands, even as negotiations continued under U.S. mediation.

On July 2, Hezbollah launched three drones toward the Karish vessel. The Israel Defense Forces detected and intercepted all three: a fighter aircraft downed one, and Barak missiles launched from an Israeli naval ship downed the other two. Israeli military assessment found no indication that the drones carried explosives. Hezbollah flew them slowly and at low altitude to complicate radar detection. The launch demonstrated its ability to send aircraft toward Israeli energy infrastructure without striking the vessel.

Hezbollah used the drone launch to threaten Israel and portray itself within Lebanon as a defender of national interests. That message also served its independent armed role at a time when opposition to its separate military force was growing. Senior Lebanese officials publicly opposed the launch while Lebanon pursued a negotiated compromise amid an economic crisis. Hezbollah continued threatening force against the Karish rig and Israel after the interceptions.

On September 17, 2022, Nasrallah declared that Karish should remain idle until Lebanon’s maritime demands were met. He said Hezbollah’s eyes and rockets were directed at the field and presented its threats as a means of preventing production before an agreement. Hezbollah official Nabil Qaouk likewise framed the organization’s pressure as a way to secure Lebanon’s gas demands. These statements placed Karish at the center of Hezbollah’s threats against Israeli energy infrastructure during the negotiations.

Present day

Karish began producing gas on October 26, 2022, through Energean Power. Its entry into production added a smaller field to Israel’s established offshore gas sector and supplied a new source for the domestic market. The events of 2022 also showed how the field’s location and exposed surface infrastructure could bring energy development, maritime diplomacy and security together. Karish remains an Israeli offshore field; Karish North remains a separate development.