Category: Israel

Israel has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recruit the oil and gas talent it needs to exploit its natural gas resources and turn itself into an important oil and gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to import the skills and knowledge it needs to develop itself into an oil and gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean, according to speakers at this week’s Universal Oil and Gas Conference, which is being held in Tel Aviv. The country must take advantage of a global downturn in the upstream oil and gas industry in order to recruit the engineering specialists it needs to exploit the approximately 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas it found off its coast in 2009 and 2010 , as well the geological and drilling experts it requires as it searches for more hydrocarbons, delegates to UOG 2015 heard. Speaking about the challenges Israel […]

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JERUSALEM—Israel is inviting international oil companies to further explore its offshore waters for natural gas, the country’s energy minister said on Tuesday, as the country tries to become an energy exporter for first time. “We believe that based on the geological data—from our own experts and global companies—that there is still the potential for new discoveries,” Mr. Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem. Israel, Egypt and other countries have pushed to turn the Mediterranean Sea into a natural-gas powerhouse as energy companies make new finds there. Shell’s head of gas Maarten Wetselaar declined to disclosed if the company had been in any talks with the Israeli government. “We are not in the gas business in Israel and have no immediate plans to explore or produce gas there,” Mr. Wetselaar said in an interview Tuesday. Representatives for Eni, Exxon and Hess didn’t respond immediately to requests for comment. Mr. Steinitz said […]

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Noble Energy says it will make a final investment decision on two large gas fields in Israel in about a year’s time, a day after the country’s prime minister promised to fast-track the projects. Nov 2 (Reuters) – U.S. oil and gas producer Noble Energy Inc said on Monday it would make a final investment decision on two large gas fields in Israel in about a year’s time, a day after the country’s prime minister promised to fast-track the projects. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would take control of the economy ministry – after a minister who had been holding up the plan stepped down – and give final approval to a framework deal with Noble and Israel’s Delek Group . "Yesterday’s announcement from the Prime Minister’s office is a further indication of the commitment to moving forward with gas development," Noble’s Chief Executive David Stover […]

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TEL AVIV—Israel’s economy minister resigned on Sunday, allowing the government to move ahead with stalled plans to develop two offshore gas fields after nearly a year of political wrangling. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would take over Aryeh Deri’s portfolio to push through a framework to develop the gas fields after the plan was ruled anticompetitive by the country’s regulator last year. “Today we are taking a major step toward advancing the supply of gas in the state of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “Natural gas will be the No. 1 growth engine in Israel in the coming years.” The Tamar and Leviathan fields were discovered in 2009 and 2010 , respectively, and are worth an estimated $25 billion in potential gas sales, according to analysts at U.K.-based Barclays Bank. Mr. Netanyahu said the gas from the two fields would lower energy costs for Israelis. The development plans would […]

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Israeli energy company Delek Group wades into North Sea waters by taking on a stake in regional counterpart Ithaca Energy. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 9 (UPI) — Israeli energy company Delek Group said it was wading deeper into the international market by taking on stake on Ithaca Energy, which operates in the North Sea. "This is an important strategic step for Delek Group through expanding its operations and strengthening its position on the international market," Chief Executive Officer Asi Bartfeld said in a statement. "We intend to continue to take advantage of opportunities in the markets and to examine further strategic investments in international companies in the energy field." For a total consideration of $66 million, Delek said it was taking on a 20 percent stake in Ithaca in a deal that includes a potential for two seats on Ithaca’s board of directors. Ithaca’s […]

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U.S. company with close ties to Israeli government confirms oil and gas discovery in contested Golan Heights region. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 9 (UPI) — Genie Energy, a company with headquarters in the United States, confirmed it made a major discovery of oil and natural gas in the Golan Heights. The New Jersey-based company said data from exploratory wells drilling into the area confirm what it said were "significant" quantities of oil and natural gas. "We remain optimistic given the results to date," Genie Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard Jonas said in a statement. "We are now working diligently to determine the production costs and total quantity of the resource." The company’s Israeli subsidiary, Afek Oil and Gas, drilled into a column of reserves about 1,150 feet thick, about 10 times larger than the global average. Genie said it lacks evidence to determine if […]

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A massive oil reserve has been discovered in the Golan Heights by an Israeli energy company, regional news outlets reported Wednesday. The find by Afek Oil and Gas, confirmed to be 10 times larger than the average oil field worldwide, could boost Israel’s relatively young oil industry and meet domestic energy demands. “There is enormous excitement,” Yuval Bartov, the oil and gas chief geologist for Afek, told Channel 2 News, according to Globes . “It’s a fantastic feeling. We came here thinking maybe yes or maybe no and now things are really happening.” Israeli oil companies were searching for oil around the clock, with little success until the latest discovery. It was first announced last month , but the size of the find was only confirmed recently. Afek Oil and Gas is a subsidiary of American company Genie Energy. Since Israel’s founding, companies have drilled 530 exploratory wells in […]

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Israeli energy company finds deep oil reservoir in the Golan Heights, considered occupied Syrian territory by much of the international community. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI JERUSALEM, Oct. 7 (UPI) — An Israeli oil and natural gas company estimates there may be enough reserves in the occupied Golan Heights to make the country self-sufficient in energy. Yuval Bartov, the chief geologist for Afek Oil and Gas, told Channel 2 News in Israel preliminary data show a column of oil found in the Golan Heights is about 10 times larger than the global average. "We are talking about significant quantities," he said. "The important thing is to know the oil is in the rock and that’s what we now know." The Israeli Ministry of Energy and Water Resources awarded a drilling permit to U.S.-Israeli company Genie Energy for territory in the southern Golan Heights in 2013. The company at the […]

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Five years later, poor policymaking, political infighting and a battle between PM Netanyahu and the antitrust commissioner over a lack of competition mean Leviathan remains undeveloped. JERUSALEM, Oct 1 (Reuters) – When the Leviathan gas field was discovered off the coast of Israel in 2010, it was pitched as a game-changer — a vast energy reserve that would transform the economy and bolster public finances for years to come. Five years on, poor policymaking, political infighting and a battle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the antitrust commissioner over a lack of competition mean Leviathan remains undeveloped. Meanwhile, Egypt has made a larger discovery that could make it a more attractive investment. The case sends a worrying message to investors and may make them wary of the natural resources sector in Israel, which has struggled to diversify its economy much beyond technology. Instead of billions of dollars in exports […]

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