Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining NewMed Energy third quarter result presentation. With me, Yossi Abu, our CEO, Tzachi Habusha, CFO, and Gabriel Last, chairman of the board. So without further ado, I will hand to Yossi to present the results and the update.
Thank you very much, everybody, for joining us, and thank you for your time. As you probably know, October 7th, Israel, we're going through in hell, literally in hell. More than 2,000 Hamas, ISIS, arrived to our country and literally massacre our people, kids, women, old people, and civilians. From that time, we are literally here in a bit different world, so it's not easy for us to discuss the results, but we'll take you through that. I want to say that our heart is with the kidnapped that currently in Gaza, and we wish to bring them home, and we are praying for the health of all our people and soldiers all over Israel and around. From that, we'll move to our operational updates.
As you know, at October 7th, Tamar were shut down, and we as Leviathan, we were providing all the needs of the Israeli market, but continue as well to export. During all that time, we were exporting to the region, in parallel to serving the market, and we squeeze the capacity of Leviathan to the maximum possible in order to provide energy to all the region, Israel and the region. We are continue with the negotiation on the BP ADNOC deal. As you know, our independent committee is negotiating with them, and the negotiation is continuing. I will take you through the third quarter result. We start with the production. We basically produce 2.92 BCM.
It's usually the third quarter is a peak demand, as you know, summertime in Israel and the region, and we able to produce almost all the capacity that we have. From earnings perspective, we finish with a little bit higher than $200 million EBITDA and a little bit short of $120 million net profit. We will update as well with respect to Leviathan expansion and Aphrodite development plan, and we'll take you through that in specific slide. And then we'll go and update about six exploration licenses that we won in a tender that Israel issued, NewMed, together with SOCAR and BP, 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, as SOCAR is the operator of those licenses.
And we announced today, on distribution of a $50 million dividend, and in parallel, a bond buyback, up to $90 million. It's important to say, with respect to the bond, that we couldn't buy the bond in the last few weeks as we were, you know, before the results, so we couldn't be active in the market. But post the result, our intent is to be active in the market and use our buyback plan. So without further, I will dive into the detail. As you can see, in the third quarter of 2023, we were a little bit down, from 3 BCM in Q3 2022 to 2.92 BCM in Q3 2023.
Basically, most of the production, as you can see, go to the Egyptian market with 4.8 BCM, steady state production to Jordan around 2 BCM, and the rest go to the Israeli market, 1.3 BCM. That's mainly due to the entry of Karish to production. So in Q3 2022, we didn't have Karish producing, and we produced to the Israeli market almost 3 BCM. Once Karish start producing in Q3 2023, basically, we could shift some of this production to the Egyptian market, and we increased significantly the export to Egypt, and that's basically what we are expecting to see quarters forward. Price perspective, you can see the tolerance of the link to the Brent.
Basically, we had a little bit our average price go down from $6.44 to a little bit higher than $6 because of the link to the Brent, and it's continuing with the Brent with a lag of three months. So the average price is usually three months Brent average before the month of the sale. And you can see the correlation between the gas price and the Brent in this slide. Sorry. On the regional connectivity update, let me take you to where we are. The first project is the Ashdod-Ashkelon looping. What you can see in red in the map, it's a pipeline connecting the Israeli grid offshore between Ashkelon and Ashdod.
The main point of this pipeline is to increase the capacity possible to deliver to the EMG pipeline from the 5 BCM currently, 5 BCM a year currently, a capability to a 8 BCM a year capability. This pipeline should be done by, should be finished by Q2 2024, and that will increase the ability of Leviathan to export more to Egypt. Out of this 8 BCM capacity, Leviathan is holding around 6 BCM, so it's definitely a very important project, and we are really looking forward to start and flow more through EMG to Egypt. In parallel to that, we are still pushing two other route. One is the Mizrah export route.
As you can see, in dotted red, this is another connection between the Israeli grid and the Pan-Arab Pipeline that will allow us to flow 6 BCM through this pipeline and as well use the Pan-Arab Pipeline, the Arab pipeline, going through Jordan to Egypt and increase the sales. So if I'm looking forward, by mid this decade, we are expecting to see 8 BCM through EMG, 6 BCM through Mizrah, and around 6-7 BCM on top of the Jordanian demand to Egypt, so more than 20 BCM connectivity capability to flow gas from Israel to Egypt through those three pipelines.
One of the things that happened to us in October 7th is that the EMG pipeline as well was shut down for safety reason of our staff, and basically we flow, we keep flow to Egypt, through Jordan through all that time. But this week, Tamar and EMG was up and running, and now we are basically flowing as before the event, and we are going back to the usual normal flow to those markets from Leviathan. On Leviathan expansion, there's few updates. First, we finished the pre-feed for the upstream side.
The upstream side meaning the wells, the connection to the manifold, flow line from the manifold to the platform, and as well, a de-bottlenecking of the Leviathan platform to allow ourself to go up from 12 BCM to up to 21 and maybe more BCM a year. The stages is the following: there's a third flow line from Leviathan reservoir to the platform that we are already delivering. That will be somewhere mid-2025, and it will take us from 12 BCM to 14 BCM. Now, we are all Leviathan partners intend to proceed with a full FEED to the upstream side that will take us from 14 BCM to around 21 and more BCM, and that we intend to do very soon and basically go on based on the Israeli regional market with this activity.
And on the FLNG side, we are, we receive indication from the pre-FEED for higher CapEx than we expected initially. We're still looking and evaluating those numbers and alternative with the floating LNG, and we're still looking on several alternatives to install the floating LNG, but definitely we saw prices which were higher than we expected from that front. And our intent is to decouple the floating LNG site from the upstream site, to run as fast as we can to increase the upstream capacity and in parallel, to continue working on the floating LNG. On the Aphrodite side, as you're probably aware, we have approved development plan, which basically is, we submitted to the Cypriot government in 2019.
That development plan is an FPU over the reservoir, treat the gas in the FPU, and export it, export it into the Egyptian market. We submitted back then that development plan because we didn't have free capacity in any of the Egyptian facilities. Over the years, we basically found free capacity in existing facilities in Egypt, and we update the development plan to a tie-back, to a facility platform in the Egyptian market, the WDDM one, and we submitted to the Cypriot government. It was... We worked on that with basically the previous minister there. The new minister, once we submit this updated development plan, was, basically didn't approve it.
So currently the approved development plan that we have is an FPU, but we are working with the Cypriot government and with the minister to try and convince them that the tie-back alternative is better to the Cypriot citizens, as well as to us. We will continue with them the activity to find the best solution to develop the Aphrodite field. And in this quarter, we basically recently we have been announced by the Israeli government that we won Zone I. Zone I is a combination of six exploration licenses and north of Israel, as you can see in this map. This area is basically one of the main areas offshore Israel, which is underexplored.
We saw some good signs in the data that we have, and we submitted, and we're very happy with this result that we basically won this zone. We have there 1/3 of working interest together with BP and SOCAR as the operator of that zone. And we are really happy with the results and looking forward to get into work with respect to those licenses. I will deliver the torch to Tzachi Habusha, our CFO, to take you to the result of Q3, and we'll then back then to Q&A.
Thank you, Yossi, and thank you all for being with us. I'd like to share a few points in respect to the third quarter and the ninth month period, which ended on September 30th. So, the net profit for the first nine months of 2023 is approximately $332 million, compared to approximately $328 million during the same period last year, which present a decrease of 1.2%.
The change in the net profit derives from a decrease in the net revenue and a deduction of the cost and expenses as a result of the disposal of Ofek a new project, and Yahel in the same period last year, and the decrease in finance costs due to the buyback program and the full repayment of Leviathan Bond, June 2023. And then an increase in the decommissioning provision of Yam Tethys last year. This impact was offset by a decrease in the net revenue. The net profit in Q3 is $180 million, compared to $123 million last year.
The following slide show us the main changes in net profit compared to the same period last year. The main changes is the net profit, in the net profit, derived from a reduction in natural gas revenue after royalties in the sum of $21 million, out of which $12 million are due to a decrease in the average gas price per MMBtu, which is partially linked to Brent oil price, and $9 million are due to a decrease in natural gas quantities from a previous level of approximately 3 BCM to 2.9 BCM in this quarter. I'd like to point out that the Leviathan's long-term and strong contracts have a take-or-pay mechanism and limited exposure to Brent price decline floor price per MMBtu.
In other words, we do not get 100% adjustment when the Brent price increases. However, we have a limited risk when the Brent price decreases. Another factor that affected the net income was a decrease in operating and tax expenses in the sum of $70 million, and a decrease, as mentioned, in net financial expenses of $8 million . In relation to the balance sheet, I'd like to point out that there is a dramatic reduction in our current debt position. This is as a result of the fact that on June 30th, we repaid the Leviathan Bond series 2023, in the sum of $500 million .
Let's move on to the next slide, which presents the reduction in our current debt position compared to the past. In addition to the payment of Leviathan bonds June 2023, at the end of 2021, we would repay the Tamar bonds and the Series A bonds. As of September 30, the total debt is approximately $1.75 billion, which come from Leviathan bonds with maturity in 2025, 2027, and 2030. There is no impact from the world interest rate changes on these bonds, since they have a fixed interest rates. And this fact puts NewMed in a very positive financial position and had a positive impact on our financial costs in the last quarter, and will have in the coming days.
Let's take a look again at the P&L. The bottom line is that in the net profit for the nine months of 2023 is quite higher than the net profit during the same period last year, while our total debt has decreased.
I want to emphasize again that since the war broke out, there has no significant impact on the partnership's sales, production, or profit. As mentioned, while Tamar was closed, we had to provide more gas to the domestic market, which was done by reducing sales to Egypt and increasing Leviathan production and sales. The partnership, the Board of Directors declared, $50 million profit distribution. This was in addition to $100 million distribution in Q1 and Q2. And on a final note, I'd like to express my support and hope for the families of the Israeli and the non-Israeli hostages who are currently being held in Gaza, and to express my sincere condolences to those families who have lost their loved ones, and to pray that our brave soldiers come back safely. Thank you.
Thank you. We'll gather the question now, so please hold on a minute.
So a few questions to tackle. First, on the buyback side, we basically reapprove a plan which is $91 million plan, and our intent to be active in the market. The plan is here for a year, but we obviously, based on the yields, will take decision on an ongoing basis to buy back the bond if the right thing from NewMed perspective. So this is for that question. Basically, on the upstream and the floating side, we are seeing almost unlimited demand in the region for the capacity that we have, and meaning the new capacity of Leviathan.
As you saw, the connectivity will allow, us and other, but mainly Leviathan capacity, to flow to Egypt, around 2 BCF a day, for mid this decade. So we definitely see an outlet to the upstream side post the, you know, the taking action and delivering the 21 BCM, between the, the Israeli market and the regional market. On the LNG, on the floating LNG, we are continuing to evaluate, alternative to the floating LNG. As you know, we run with, a unique floating LNG, which basically the gas come to the, our platform. We treat the gas in the platform, and we deliver treated gas to the floating LNG that allow us to go, on the big side, like, you know, 4.5 million ton floating LNG, very big one.
We have as well looking alternative, which is over the reservoir and other alternative, and we continue evaluate those activity, and we are there. And I think this is basically... For all the question with respect to the deal, as you know, we have independent committee. The only thing that I can say, we are continuing negotiation, and I cannot say anything more than that in this stage. And this is - we let the independent committee and the consortium to finish the work. Currently, there's a question, how much capacity we have currently to deliver to Egypt and what?
So currently, we basically have roughly 5 BCM through EMG, and we are having around 300 million a day, so around 3 BCM through Jordan, and so total of 8 with the EMG looping. So basically, Ashdod-Ashkelon looping will take EMG from 5 to 8. With Nitzana, Nitzana is supposed to be at least 6 BCM, and with some compression system that we intend to install in the Pan-Arab Pipeline, it will take the capacity from 300 to around 6-7 BCM. So total will be 20-21 BCM capability to deliver to the Egyptian market, to all those alternative. More question to come. Give us a second to go through.
Sorry, there is a question about the utilization of the facility, the bank facilities, the $150 million facilities. So up to date, we draw, well, around $70 million, so we have $80 million as a facility. This draw is just for us. Right now, there's no any users for that, just because the risk becomes, become higher, so it's good for us to put it as a safety, as a safety money. No, basically, as I mentioned, up until now, we managed to deliver to the Egyptian market much more than the yearly commitment.
But we are continuing slow, so we are not expecting any penalties, et cetera, with respect to the activity. Yeah, there's a third question about security to the facilities. So basically, there's many aspects of securities to the facilities, offshore and onshore. I cannot obviously provide details on that, but I would say that those facilities are strategic asset for our countries, and thus they are, the security is basically provided with the umbrella of the government, and there's many levels of securities to those facilities. So basically, there's a question about prices, selling spot prices to the Israeli market. I would say that the usual spot prices to the Israeli market is export parity.
That's usually what we are dealing. In this unique situation that we were held, it was a combination of export parity and Tamar prices to the local market. So, for that, this is for this question. And, on the insurance side, we have a very detailed data in our reports over the insurance side. That's the maximum that we can say around the insurance. So, please, you have a very detailed one, go and look over there, and if there's any question, Guil here, Guil Bashan, our IR manager, you can approach him. But there's a very detailed, you know, a disclosure around the insurance.
With respect to new customers, new Israeli customers, whether we are negotiating, yes, there's a potential for new Israeli customers. As you know, both IEC have been build a new power plant, new natural gas-based power plant, and there's a newcomer out of the IEC bid to sell power plants out. There's a new power plant called Eshkol, and there's two other natural gas-based power plant that Israel decide to take forward. One is named Kesem, and the other one is Dorad. Both of them are a meaningful demand, and we definitely intend to negotiate a gas deal there.
The last question.
Yeah, the last question is with respect to the third flow line of Leviathan. This project is ongoing, and we are on budget, on schedule, targeted to be mid-2025 online. It will take the capacity of Leviathan from 12 BCF to 14 BCF, and we expect to be online. Last question on the payment from Energean. So we are expecting, as you saw, to get around $30 million on March 2024, and then additional around $17 million in May 2024, and this is obviously part of what we deserve to get. Thank you very much for joining us today, and repeat, we really wish to bring them home, and thank you for being with us this morning.
Thank you, everyone. Of course, if you have any additional inquiries or whatever, we are available for you. I look forward to talking to you. So have a nice day, and see you next quarter.