Resources in Israel

Israel has found a lot of gas in deep-sea wells off the north of the country. Already this discovery has caused problems with neighboring countries around it. Tension with Lebanon over distinguishing the maritime border is rising. There has been a battle of royalties; some are demanding a sovereign-wealth fund when the gas starts making profit. This discovery of gas can be problematic because of a pipeline positioned across the seabed to Greece and relations with Israel have become a lot tighter as Turkey progresses to shut down its very old alliance with Israel. Israel has been drilling for decades, but has rarely had success. In 1999 a maritime drill struck gas in commercial quantities 250 meters beneath the Mediterranean, 40km (25 miles) out from Israel’s southern port of Ashdod. Production began in 2004 at the Mari-B where about 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas are piped ashore each year from reserves possibly as large as 22 bcm(billion cubic meters). Last year 238 bcm was discovered in the Tamar field 90km off the northern end of Israel’s coast; the gas is much deeper down, Production should begin in 2014. Tamar was the world’s largest gas find in 2009. But this year Noble Energy says that this field called Leviathan, located 45km farther out to sea, has a potential of 453 bcm and an even chance of what they call a “geological success”. An exploratory drill is under way and the results should be known early next year. If the results are good, production could begin by 2016. These two fields combined should provide gas worth $4 billion a year. Tamar should be able to supply all Israel’s domestic gas needs, both for industry and household consumers, for at least 20 years.

Israeli military aircraft, no longer welcome in Turkish skies, are training over Greece with the Greek air force. Recent diplomatic talks in Jerusalem included a session with Israel’s petroleum commissioner. Israel sees Greece as a gas purchaser and a European core where Israeli gas could be sold and piped on. But Greece may not comply until Israel has agreed with Lebanon and Cyprus on where a border is to be drawn in the sea, distinguishing each country’s economic exclusion zone. Israel is close to an agreement with Cyprus on a “median line” to let them share some of the seabed between them since there is an overlap. Then Israel intends to cautiously approach Lebanon (though the two countries are formally in a state of war), in the hope eventually of holding a UN-backed international negotiation. In the meantime, Israel has run a string of buoys into the sea off the coastal border point between Israel and Lebanon. Lebanon says they are angled too far northward, while Israel points out that Tamar and Leviathan are well south of the line that Lebanon claims as the correct maritime one.

-Kelsey Tomlinson
(The Economist)
http://www.economist.com/node/17468208?story_id=17468208