JERUSALEM, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel's natural gas, oil and minerals revenues from royalties and fees totaled 426 million new shekels (about 120.9 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2019, according to a report released Monday by the state's Ministry of Energy.
The total Israeli natural gas and oil royalties in the first half of 2019 was about 416.4 million new shekels, an increase of 2.2 percent compared with the same period in 2018.
The increase is relatively moderate, following a fall in revenues in April due to a malfunction and temporary cessation of production from Tamar gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as a significant decline in the dollar exchange rate to the Israeli shekel.
Israel's Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz said "we expect a significant increase in royalties revenue in 2019 to a new record of more than 1 billion new shekels."
