Israel's Enormous Natural Gas Reserves And It's Relationship With The U.S. And Putin's Russia

Israel's Oil Weapon -- Gene Schwimmer, American Thinker

Seemingly out of nowhere, geopolitics have been all but turned upside down in the Middle East, thanks to the discovery of massive energy resources in Israeli territory. As a nascent Oil Power, the Jewish State is only beginning to contemplate the new dynamics of influence available to it.

The world knows Vladimir Putin as President of Russia; however, to Putin's official title, allow me to suggest a second appellation, unofficial, but no less descriptive: Israel's New Best Friend. Until recently, one could characterize Russia's position vis-à-vis Israel as, at best ambivalent: cordial relations with Jerusalem on the one hand, while supplying weapons, nuclear technology and other assistance to her enemies on the other.

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My Comment: There are a million+ Russian Jews who now live in Israel .... so there is an immediate connection already to Putin's Russia. The key is how will both countries manage this relationship .... my gut is telling me that they are going to handle it very well.

Is Israel Transforming Into A Major Energy Producer?

Gas Pains -- Tablet

Recently discovered gas and oil fields could make Israel one of the world’s largest energy producers. That threatens Iran’s power, which is why its agents in Lebanon are manufacturing a border dispute.

The Tamar field, discovered in 2009 roughly 50 miles off Haifa, is estimated to contain 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, while the Leviathan field, discovered further west in June 2010, is double that at 18 trillion cubic feet, one of the largest offshore finds in the last decade. And yet much more important, a former Royal Dutch Shell chief scientist who’s now chief scientist for Israel Energy Initiatives “has devised an ambitious plan that would, if successful, turn Israel into one of the world’s leading oil producers,” according to an Energy Tribune report earlier this year. It turns out that the oil-shale deposits in Israel’s Shfela Basin, 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem, hold some 250 billion barrels of oil—roughly equal to Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves. In other words, Israel may well become a player in the highly competitive field of energy-producing nations, which includes Hezbollah’s patron, Iran.

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My Comment: The oil-shale deposits in Israel’s Shfela Basin, 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem and holding some 250 billion barrels of oil, is what catches my attention. The oil sands projects in Alberta has transformed Canada as a major oil supplier, if Israel follows the same policies that Canada has followed, coupled with the natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean .... Israel's energy status and influence will change significantly.

Israel's Discovery Of A Massive Natural Gas Field In The Mediterranean Stirs Tensions With It's Neighbors

Photo: Drilling in the Dalit offshore field. Photo by: Haaretz

Israel May Join Gas Exporting Nations With Leviathan Discovery -- Bloomberg

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Israel is on the path to exporting energy for the first time in its 62-year history after Noble Energy Inc. and partners said their offshore discoveries in the country may hold twice as much natural gas as the U.K.

Noble, the Houston-based operator of the Leviathan block, said yesterday the area may have 16 trillion cubic feet of gas, as it also raised its estimate for the nearby Tamar field to 8.4 trillion cubic feet. Noble said all its areas in the eastern Mediterranean may hold as much as 30 trillion cubic feet.

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More News On Israel's Natural Gas Discovery And Reaction To It

A geopolitical game changer -- Haaretz
Israel to Become a Natural Gas Exporting Country Soon -- Associated Content
Hezbollah: Offshore gas is Lebanese -- Haaretz
Hizbullah: Israel's gas belongs to us -- Globes Online

My Comment: Expect even more "outrage" from Hezbollah and their allies if oil is discovered beneath these gas fields. At $75 US a barrel, even a few hundred million barrels of oil could be worth tens of billions of dollars.