The geopolitics of Israel’s offshore gas reserves

JCPA

  • The flow of natural gas from Israel’s Tamar reservoir in the Mediterranean to the Ashdod reception facility was inaugurated on March 30, 2013, ushering in a new era in Israel’s energy sector. Israel will not only become independent in being able to supply its own energy needs, but it is likely to become an energy exporter as its maritime gas fields are further developed.
  • On January 17, 2009, Israel’s economy and even its strategic stature changed when a team led by the Texan firm Noble Energy discovered gas in the Tamar field in the eastern Mediterranean, which is estimated to contain 9.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. The Tamar well-heads which contain methane gas are rated at a high level of purity, with an energy value of production per well-head over four-fold higher than Saudi oil well-heads. Two years later, the same team drilling a few dozen kilometers further west discovered a monstrous gas field, appropriately called Leviathan, which is now estimated to contain 18 TCF and could begin supplying gas in 2016.

  • Tamar was only the beginning. The amount of gas subsequently discovered offshore now dwarfs any feasible, projected Israeli demand for at least half a century. The Tamar field alone represents two decades of consumption. As such, Israel will become a net exporter of gas. The Israeli gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean are only part of new gas fields in what is called the Levant Basin, which includes the maritime areas of Israel, Cyprus, Lebanon, and even parts of Syria’s waters. The Levant Basin could hold 125 TCF.
  • The most likely short-term destination for Israel’s natural gas is Jordan. Connecting Israel’s emerging gas grid to Jordan is a relatively inexpensive and simple endeavor. Yet Israel will almost certainly have much larger amounts to export.
  • Given its geographic proximity, Europe would seem to be the natural export market for Israeli gas. Moreover, Europe is facing a major gas supply crisis because of the spread of instability in Algeria and the rest of North Africa. Yet Asia may emerge as Israel’s preferred export destination. The Australian firm, Woodside, which acquired about a third of the rights to the Leviathan field, is oriented toward marketing gas in Asia, and envisions building a liquefaction plant to service that trade.
  • Israel’s recent experience with Egypt, where half of its natural gas supply was permanently severed following the collapse of the Mubarak regime, suggests that Israel will view with apprehension any scheme to anchor its critical infrastructure in countries beyond its own borders, such as Jordan, Cyprus, or Turkey. Thus, it is likely that ultimately the gas will be liquefied on Israeli territory and exported directly via sea to the consuming market.
  • Israeli officials view a cross-Israel natural gas pipeline connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas as an alternative to the Suez Canal. But an export structure operating directly from Eilat to markets in Asia would face a rising strategic problem: Iran’s increasing naval presence in the Red Sea. This will require Israel to establish and expand a Red Sea fleet as well as a significant expansion in the size and capability of its Mediterranean fleet.
October 20, 2013 | 8 Comments »

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8 Comments / 8 Comments

  1. Given up on the Giants this year. Time to dump the whole team and start from scratch starting with the coach and Manning.

  2. honeybee Said:

    Heh,cross your fingers, hahahahaha

    Cowboys won,Texans have chance,Broncos yet to come.ooops.

    Rubbing it in???? It ain’t over till the fat broad sings.

  3. yamit82 Said:

    Interesting that just when the world seems to reverting back to the the old Jew Hatred we are moving in the opposite direction. They are becoming weaker and we stronger

    Heh,cross your fingers, hahahahaha

    Cowboys won,Texans have chance,Broncos yet to come.ooops.

  4. @ honeybee:

    Don’t know the answer but Israel has 2 refineries and can easily handle it… http://www.givot.co.il/english/article.php?id=117 //// Worst case they make it into diesel or lower grade which is also marketable. Big thing whatever we find means less imports and foreign exchange savings, but more importantly we can’t be pressured or blackmailed with the use of fossil fuels. I think in a few years we will be completely energy self sufficient.

    Think about it in this way we have leading Hi-tech and software industries, we are the 3rd or 4th leading military exporter in the world we are (except for wheat) agriculturally self sufficient with a well developed processed food Industrial base. For a country our size we are becoming an almost completely self sufficient entity. Every home and apt has solar water heaters (Everyone), no country in the world uses the natural power of the sun as we do.

    Interesting that just when the world seems to reverting back to the the old Jew Hatred we are moving in the opposite direction. They are becoming weaker and we stronger.

    Enjoy your trip and wedding.

  5. yamit82 Said:

    f the Meged 5 oil discovery are double previous estimates

    Is it sweet crude, Whos is drilling Israel,BP,Exxon?? Using foreign or domestic rougnecks. Tues I leave for a huge family wedding, in Hunt,TX. Big oil interest will be there,will nose about. At this time the Dakotas are the big news.

  6. Israel Strikes More Oil in Area
    Discovered on Basis of Torah Verse Moses made the right turn after all. In his song at the end of the Torah he spoke of ‘precious things of “Givat HaOlam.” The hidden meaning of “precious things” seems to be oil. Not olive oil, but black gold.

    Proven developed reserves of the Meged 5 oil discovery are double previous estimates, with the updated report showing it has 890,700 barrels of oil, Globes reported. The proven, probable and possible reserves in two sections of Meged 5 are 3.35 millions of barrel, compared with a previous estimate of 2.15 million barrels. Givat Olam, founder Meged 5, said it has sold $40 million worth of oil from one section of the Meged 5 well. It is located near Rosh HaAyin, five miles east of metropolitan Tel Aviv, and is adjacent to the security fence that runs along Judea and Samaria. The Palestinian Authority, of course, claims most of the oil well is theirs.

    Givat Olam founder Tovia Luskin was attracted to the site by a verse in Devarim (Deuteronomy), the last book of the Torah. Chapter 33, verse 15 speaks of “the choicest things of ‘Givat Olam’” [lasting hills]. Luskin proceeded to carry out exploration there after receiving a blessing from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Two years ago, the company began using Shabbat clocks to avoid using labor for the faucets in the production system on the Sabbath.

    Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel-strikes-more-oil-in-area-discovered-on-basis-of-torah-verse/2013/10/07/