Gas was continuing to to flow from the Leviathan natural gas rig on Monday, a day after the Energy Ministry ordered Noble Energy to halt operations at the rig's Turboexpander (TEX) facilities.
The commissioner informed the company that they would not be allowed to move forward in running or testing the TEX which is used to increase the extraction of gas from the field. Noble Energy said that since Leviathan began operations, the rig has worked 96 percent of the time and has not caused any damage to the environment.
Earlier on Sunday, the Energy Ministry said in a statement that the security flare at the rig had been lit as a precautionary measure, to prevent air pollution. The flare is automatic and lights up to prevent pollution or other potential damage to the environment.
The Energy Ministry stressed that despite the halting of Turboexpander operations, natural gas production for the market will continue as planned. On April 26, Noble Energy issued a statement in which it stated that, as part of the work on the Turboexpanders, it was possible that natural gas would be released through the flare system.
A turboexpander, also referred to as a turbo-expander or an expansion turbine, is a turbine through which a high-pressure gas is expanded to produce work.Opponents of the gas rig opposite Israel's coast used the suspension of the Turboexpander to claim that the rig was hazardous to Israel, despite the fact that its establishment and operations are closely monitored by the government."Just as we've warned over the past three years, the hazardous Leviathan rig near the coast is turning out, even to the most optimistic of people, to be a ticking bomb and a serious mistake," said Yoni Sapir, head of the Homeland Guards Association that has opposed the rig.