Israel has asked US energy giant Chevron to shut down a major gas field Tamar, according to Bloomberg News. The request comes after the militant Palestinian organization Hamas’ attacks in Israel over the weekend.

The closure causes the European gas price to rise by 11% on Monday afternoon to EUR 42.44 per MWh. The price has not been this high since the beginning of October.

”Our top priority is the safety of our employees, the communities in which we operate, the environment, and our facilities,” Chevron wrote in an email.

The energy giant is still supplying gas to customers in Israel and the region from another major project called Leviathan, according to the statement.

Gas discoveries in Israel over the past two decades have made the country a fuel exporter. Some of the gas goes to Egypt, which, in turn, sends it to Europe.

In August, Israel announced that it would export more gas from Tamar to Egypt. However, the uncertainty surrounding the plans is increasing as tensions in the Middle East rise, Bloomberg reports.

The Tamar gas field is located on the Israeli coast about 80 kilometers west of Haifa.

(Translated by DeepL with additional editing by Christian Radich Hoffman)