May 2010: Israel to become center of new ‘oil and gas rush’

A top US energy industry expert believes Israel is going to soon
experience an “oil and gas rush” by major Western energy development
companies.

Speaking to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes, Fred Zeidman said
the recent discovery of a massive natural gas field off Israel’s
Mediterranean coast had drawn the attention of every major Western
energy company.

Israeli companies Delek and Isramco have already tapped the natural
gas field, together with British energy giant Noble Energy. Zeidman
noted that quite often, “as soon as Noble goes to a place, many other
companies follow in its wake.”

That could mean an enormous economic boom for Israel and its
transformation overnight into a major international energy exporter.

The natural gas field in the Levant Basin (the western Mediterranean)
is estimated to hold 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural
gas, making it the largest natural gas resource ever found. The area
is also believed to contain at least 1.7 billion barrels of
recoverable oil.

Source: Israel Today