Gas in Israel: the largest discovery in history

Vardina Hilloo

It has being the sensational news of this year: Israel
will be awash in natural gas.
The discovered on the country's outer continental
shelf and will turn the country from being hydrocarbon-
deprived to being a net exporter

Israel is set to become so rich that it is laying
the groundwork for creating a sovereign wealth fund
for overseas investments.

Expert convinced, gigantic $45 billion Leviathan gas
find tosses out Israel’s previous relationship with
the world. The biggest deep-water gas find in a decade
has enough reserves to supply Israel’s gas
needs for 100 years.

The natural gas reserves in the Leviathan structure
total 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, based on
preliminary results of the production tests . This is the
amount estimated from the 3D seismic survey. The quantity
is double the gas reserves at Tamar.

Noble Energy, the largest American company based in Texas,
which it was known through the 1990s, and it is now an oil
and natural gas exploration and production, and has been
operating in the Mediterranean Sea, offshore Israel,
since 1998, believes that "Leviathan is the latest
major discovery for Noble Energy and is easily the
largest exploration discovery in our history”.

Noble Energy president and COO David L. Stover added,
"This discovery has the potential to position Israel
as a natural gas exporting nation. For nearly a year now,
we have had a team evaluating market possibilities,
which includes various pipeline and LNG options. It's our
belief that the natural gas resources at Leviathan are
sufficient to support one or more of the options being studied.
" The two huge gas discoveries are in the Tamar and Leviathan fields.

Taken together, the gas reserves are estimated at 26 trillion cubic
feet or 10 times larger than Britain's North Sea discoveries.
Leviathan's Israeli partners are Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG)
units Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP
(TASE: DEDR.L) (22.67% each), and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP
(TASE:RATI.L) with 15%. 

Cyprus will be possible export-staging destination, as the
Leviathan field, 86 miles off the Israeli coast, is
nearby. But Turkish Cyprus, on the north side of the island,
is not on board.

The Tamar field is 50 miles off the Israeli coast,
and there are two smaller fields, potentially subject to
claim by a free Gaza or a Palestinian state.
The Israeli government expects an influx of U.S.
and European companies to supply piping, pumps,
controllers and construction equipment and materials.