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Israel: An Oil Producer to Rival Saudi Arabia? [UPDATED WITH MAP]
Could very well be.
The World Energy Council has determined that about 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem, in the Shfela Basin, there are oil shale deposits with the potential to yield 250 billion barrels of oil. This represents the world’s third-largest quantity of oil shale behind the US and China. Oilprice.com notes that both those countries would consume almost all their own production, so Israel could conceivably become the world’s largest exporter of shale oil.
Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves are 260 billion barrels, so we would appear to be in the running as an energy giant — particularly in view of the enormous natural gas finds at the Tamar and Leviathan fields. But there’s quite a distance yet to travel. For one thing, extracting oil from shale isn’t the same as drilling it out of the ground. It’s more difficult and more expensive.
Some serious minds are on the case, though. The Wall Street Journal reported two months ago that Harold Vinegar, perhaps the leading authority on the extraction of oil from shale, is heading up a start-up in Jerusalem called Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI). Larry Solomon, global warming skeptic and executive director of Canadian environmental agency Energy Probe, told Sun News this week that Vinegar’s team is backed by several powerful and motivated figures, including Dick Cheney, Baron Rothschild, and Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch holds a 0.5% stake in Genie Energy, IEI’s U.S.-based parent company.
Both the Journal and Sun News point out that while oil shale extraction was once uneconomical, two factors have altered that picture: the oil price has gone way up, and the Israeli team has figured out a way of extracting the oil for about $35-40 a barrel.
According to Vinegar, Israel has several other advantages besides its proprietary extraction technique. In Colorado, for instance, there is an aquifer that runs right through the shale. In Israel, the aquifer is hundreds of feet below it. Also, the Israeli deposits are believed to be extremely rich, with the potential to yield 23-25 gallons of oil per ton.
Still, it will take years of planning and billions of dollars before any of this comes to fruition. IEI is still awaiting its first permit, and as an Israeli citizen who waited three years for a permit to build a little house, my sympathies go out to IEI’s investors. But in view of the recent disruption of our natural gas imports from Egypt and the cutoff of our Russian oil imports when we were at war with Hezbollah in 2006, there is some urgency to our achievement of energy independence. And once the technology is up and running, it’s entirely conceivable that we’ll become a significant net energy exporter.
UPDATE: The map to the left is from the US Geological Survey. The red stars represent oil shale deposits, which as you can see are scattered across sovereign Israel and Jordan. None were detected in the West Bank or Gaza.
If these estimates turn out to be right, it is fabulous news for Israel and very good news for the United States. Can you imagine what it would mean if the Europeans were to look to Israel for their oil?
Wonder how Obama would have treated this news if they found something similar in the US of A?
Sounds like Israeli developers/producers have their own regulatory issues. But, this is very good news for Israel. It makes me wonder what other new oil and gas discoveries are awaiting.
Are these companies publicly traded? Does anyone have a ticker symbol? BTW, Judith, thanks for the Noble Energy tip. It’s been good to me so far.
The Arabs will claim it is their oil. Many Europeans will support this claim.
Europe is not simply cowed by oil-dependency. They’d like Jew-dependency even less. How long do you you think it would be before we hear Europeans complaining about Jews getting rich off of Europeans? With hook-nosed cartoons dripping oil.
Yes, this would be a good development for Israel. And for the US and our other real friends. But leave most of Europe out of the discussion please.
Europe is not simply cowed by oil-dependency. They’d like Jew-dependency even less. How long do you you think it would be before we hear Europeans complaining about Jews getting rich off of Europeans? With hook-nosed cartoons dripping oil.
Yes, this would be a good development for Israel. And for the US and our other real friends. But leave most of Europe out of the discussion please. ·Jun 15 at 4:59am
Edited on Jun 15 at 05:00 am
You are far too hard on the Europeans. They are far more apt to fall prey to weakness and cowardice than to malice. Very few of them are spirited enough for that.
Well, not only am I happy for Israel but finally the Jewish conspiracy theorists can switch from Hollywood, the media and the banks, to claiming that the Jews now control the oil industry.
It will be a problem for some Europeans. Many Israeli agricultural products and consumer goods get labeled as emanating from Jordon or the “occupied” territories because those points of origin are perceived as more politically correct and worthy of support. But how do you “relabel” oil?
Do you think the OPECers would give the Zionist entity a seat at the table?
As the kids say……….awesome.
He may be an angry God but boy, can He be Just!
I think it was Golda Meir who said “Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil.” Looks like Moses is having the last laugh – it will just require a bit more ingenuity than Joshua’s horns blowing at the walls of Jericho to take full advantage of the deposits. I have no doubt that Israel is up to the task. For the sake of Israel (and the US), I hope I’m right.
He may be an angry God but boy, can He be Just! ·Jun 15 at 5:54am
And ironic. I think it’s why we love Him so much. He has a sense of humor.
That would start to dismantle the Israel Divestment Campaigns.
Watch the anti-shale oil groups on the Left start to ramp up. It will just be one more component in things like this.
Israeli membership in OPEC?
He may be an angry God but boy, can He be Just! · Jun 15 at 5:54am
Israeli oil sword. Ground Zero Synagogue towering over the Ka’abah, to commemorate the victims of Saudi-funded terror. Israeli petro-dollars to export democracy.
Or Brazil?
Europe is not simply cowed by oil-dependency. They’d like Jew-dependency even less. How long do you you think it would be before we hear Europeans complaining about Jews getting rich off of Europeans? With hook-nosed cartoons dripping oil.
Yes, this would be a good development for Israel. And for the US and our other real friends. But leave most of Europe out of the discussion please. ·Jun 15 at 4:59am
Edited on Jun 15 at 05:00 am
You are far too hard on the Europeans. They are far more apt to fall prey to weakness and cowardice than to malice. Very few of them are spirited enough for that. ·Jun 15 at 5:05am
This is great news for the nation of Israel. I look forward to learning more about it.
Dr. Rahe is being very diplomatic.
Captain Aubrey would call them shy, and Groundskeeper Willie would put it this way.
I know; it’s wonderful!
IEI is privately owned, so we can’t get in, alas. Delighted to hear Noble’s doing you good! Excellent!
~Paules, it is possible to get a piece of the action, if a little obliquely. IEI is 89%-owned by Genie Energy, which is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation. IDT is traded on the Big Board under the symbol IDT.
Everyone is missing the most startling part of this story which is that a guy named Vinegar is an oil expert.
That’s beautiful.
I get the feeling that we haven’t found but a small fraction of the extractable petroleum on the planet. Next year, they could discover huge oil or gas fields in some other novel form in Japan. Or Australia. Or Greenland. Or Antarctica.