Tel Aviv, March 2 (IANS): Israel's natural gas and oil revenues hit a record high in 2020, totalling 1.09 billion new shekels ($330 million), according to an annual report issued by the Ministry of Energy.

This figure is an increase of 29.4 per cent compared to oil and natural gas revenues of $255 million in 2019, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying on Monday.

The report includes revenue from royalties from natural gas, oil and minerals, as well as fees, which all together amounted to about $335 million in 2020.

Most of Israel's natural gas revenue came from the natural gas produced at Tamar and Leviathan fields in the Mediterranean Sea.

Thus, a total of 15.59 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas was produced from both fields in 2020, an increase of 48.5 per cent compared to about 10.5 BCM in 2019, the report revealed.

According to the report, Israel's revenues from Tamar's royalties since it started operation in 2013 has reached $1.75 billion.

The Ministry expects an increase in gas and oil royalties in 2021 to a new record of $348 million.

In addition, royalties from minerals totalled about $2.64 million in 2020, down 18.6 per cent from 2019.