The exploration partners in the Leviathan natural gas field offshore Israel, which include Chevron Corp., could invest in a multi-billion dollar floating LNG (FLNG) platform that could boost East Mediterranean gas exports to Europe.

Earlier this week, the partnership approved plans to spend $96.4 million on pre-front-end engineering and an estimated 4.6 million tons/year capacity unit. The Leviathan partnership consists of NewMed Energy NWMDp.TA (45.34%), Chevron (39.66%) and Ratio Energies (15%).

The project, \Levithan Phase 1B, could also involve boosting production from the field from the current capacity of 12 billion cubic meter/year (Bcm/y) to 21 Bcm/y, according to NewMed.

“The local, regional and global markets are expecting this move, and we are working hard to...