Sunday, January 18, 2009

Israel Discovers Huge Natural Gas Deposit Under Mediterranean

From Arutz Sheva:

(IsraelNN.com) The Houston-based Noble Energy company, drilling for Israel’s Delek fuel company, announced that it has discovered a huge deposit of natural gas under the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa.

Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said that the find was of “historic proportions,” and that it could change the face of Israel’s economy.

Eighty-seven billion cubic meters, or nearly 3.1 trillion cubic feet, of high-quality gas are estimated to be in three deposits in the Tamar Drilling site, which is named for Delek owner Yitzchak Teshuva’s granddaughter. Teshuva said that the find marks a “historic milestone and a great holiday for Israel,” and that he has no doubt it will “supply Israel’s energy needs for many decades to come.”

Stock prices in the Delek company jumped 38% following the announcement, and its daughter company, Delek Drilling, has jumped even higher.

The gas is located 90 kilometers west of Haifa, between Israel and Cyprus, but the rights to the Cypriot drilling sites are also owned by Teshuvah.  The depth of the water above the find is 1.7 kilometers, over a mile, and the gas is located another 4.9 kilometers deep in an area 140 meters wide.

In light of the positive results from the finds, a $20 million test drill will be carried out over the next three weeks.

4 comments:

Damien said...

Pastorius,

Wow! That's going to put Israel even more ahead of its Arab neighbors. Maybe they could use the taxes collected from the money made off this new resource to beef up their military. They're going to need it.

Anonymous said...

Ha! Ha! Ha!
More karmic retribution!

The Muslims in Holland were chanting 'Jews to the Gas' and now look what's happened - their wishes have been granted.

"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

- William Cowper

andre79 said...

Excellent news.

Did you guys see this?

http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2009/1/hugo-chavez-begs-western-oil-companies-to-come-back

Damien said...

andre79,

That article, about Chavez, begging western oil companies to come back to his country doesn't surprise. Socialism doesn't work and he's probably desperate to improve his economy, without giving up any of his dictatorial power.