Yet Another Oil/Gas Discovery Off Israeli Coast

It happened again - another "large-scale" natural gas and oil discovery for Israel.

Even More Oil And Gas Discovered Off Israeli Coast

Large-scale natural gas and oil discoveries both in Israel and off its Mediterranean coast seem to be occurring with surprising frequency in recent years. On Sunday, an Israeli company announced the discovery of yet another commercially-viable gas and oil field just off the coast of the northern port city of Haifa.

Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP said its Pelagic license was estimated to contain 6.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.4 billion barrels of oil.

"The quantity of gas discovered in the licenses, and the high probabilities, make it the third largest offshore discovery to date," company chairman Ronny Halman told the business newspaper Globes, adding, "This quantity guarantees Israel's energy future for decades, and makes it possible to export Israeli gas, and boost the state's revenues without worrying about gas reserves for domestic consumption."

The discovery of the Pelagic fields comes about a year after another Israeli company made public its natural gas find in the Tamar and Leviathan fields, also off the Mediterranean coast. Tamar and Leviathan are estimated to contain 9 and 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, respectively.

Tamar and Leviathan, together with the nearby Gabriella license held by Modiin Energy, are also expected to yield a combined 800 million barrels of oil.

The discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean in recent years are estimated to be the largest in the world, and could drastically alter Israel's economic and energy situation.