All the more gas for us to liquefy: Israeli natgas exports surged 35% y-o-y in the first six months of the year as production increased at its two biggest fields in the eastern Mediterranean, Bloomberg reports. Israel exported some 4.59 bn cubic meters (bcm) during the period as production surged 22% to 10.85 bcm, according to the country’s energy ministry.

A lot of this extra gas would have come our way: The ministry did not provide details on where the gas was exported, but Egypt is likely to have been the main recipient, being the biggest purchaser of Israeli gas. Currently, Egypt and Jordan are the only two countries that Israel exports gas to directly.

There are big plans to send more of this gas across the Med: This comes as Israel and Egypt forge closer ties with Europe, which is suffering a historic energy crisis triggered by western sanctions on Russia. Under an agreement signed in June, the EU will increase its imports of Israeli gas, which will be sent to Egypt, liquefied and shipped across the Mediterranean as LNG. The higher production volumes this year would help Israel boost sales to Europe under the new agreement, Energy Minister Karine Elharrar said.

The caveats: Details of the agreement are yet to be worked out, including where the money will come from to build the vital infrastructure and how long it might take. The MoU didn’t contain any commitments regarding export volumes.

More where that came from: Production will rise further once drilling begins at the disputed Karish gas field in the eastern Mediterranean, Elharrar said. Karish owner Energean expects production to start at the end of September.