Developers of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea near Israel have approved a $3.75 billion investment in the first phase of the energy project.

The Leviathan field is 100 km west of Haifa, Israel.The reservoir is 100 km (62 miles) west of Haifa and was discovered in December 2010. Some $1 billion already has been invested in exploration, appraisal and planning activities. According to a development plan approved by the government in 2016, the project will be completed in less than three years and gas will be available to the Israeli market by the end of 2019.

Texas-based Noble Energy owns 39.7% of Leviathan. Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, units of Israel's Delek Group, each hold 22.7%. Israel's Ratio Oil holds 15%.

The first stage of work involves drilling four production wells at an average depth of around 5 km below sea level. These will produce about 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually. Production is expected to double the volume of gas available to the Israeli market.

The gas will be transported through two underwater pipes 120 km in length to a processing and production platform situated 10 km offshore. The processed gas will be piped from the platform, through an entry pipeline that will be connected to the national gas transmission system of Israel Natural Gas Lines.

Noble, the group's operator, said its share of the bill was $1.5 billion. It plans to fund phase one with operating cash flows from the nearby Tamar gas field, as well as east Mediterranean portfolio proceeds.