The Geopolitics of Israel’s Offshore Gas Reserves

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ^ | 4-3-2013 | David Wurmser

[haffast]

- The flow of natural gas from Israel’s Tamar reservoir in the Mediterranean to the Ashdod reception facility was inaugurated on March 30, 2013, ushering in a new era in Israel’s energy sector. Israel will not only become independent in being able to supply its own energy needs, but it is likely to become an energy exporter as its maritime gas fields are further developed.

- On January 17, 2009, Israel’s economy and even its strategic stature changed when a team led by the Texan firm Noble Energy discovered gas in the Tamar field in the eastern Mediterranean, which is estimated to contain 9.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. The Tamar well-heads which contain methane gas are rated at a high level of purity, with an energy value of production per well-head over four-fold higher than Saudi oil well-heads. Two years later, the same team drilling a few dozen kilometers further west discovered a monstrous gas field, appropriately called Leviathan, which is now estimated to contain 18 TCF and could begin supplying gas in 2016.

- Tamar was only the beginning. The amount of gas subsequently discovered offshore now dwarfs any feasible, projected Israeli demand for at least half a century. The Tamar field alone represents two decades of consumption. As such, Israel will become a net exporter of gas. The Israeli gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean are only part of new gas fields in what is called the Levant Basin, which includes the maritime areas of Israel, Cyprus, Lebanon, and even parts of Syria’s waters. The Levant Basin could hold 125 TCF.

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[haffast]

David Wurmser, Ph.D., is founder and executive member of the Delphi Global Analysis Group, LLC in Washington. He has served as a consultant to Noble Energy. Earlier, he served as senior advisor on Proliferation and the Middle East to former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, as senior advisor to John R. Bolton at the State Department, and as a research fellow on the Middle East at the American Enterprise Institute.

Cyprus to build gas plant with or without Israel
Associated Press ^ | 4-3-2013 | AP
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3005364/posts

Gas Starts Flowing from Israel's Levant Basin, What Now?
OilPrice.com via Rig Zone ^ | April 05, 2013 | James Stafford|

"Israel has the upper hand right now in terms of development and production, but it lacks the infrastructure without Turkey.

Israel was originally hoping to lay a pipeline that would traverse both Cyprus and Turkey, but there are too many political pitfalls to this plan (whichwould essentially mean a final resolution to the Turkey-Cyprus spat). The ideal would have been a pipeline that connects all the Levant Basin resources—including Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and Turkey—but this is the stuff of geopolitical dreams.

In the end, it is shaping up that an Israel-Turkey pipeline is not only possible, but coming to fruition."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3005322/posts

Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Israel

The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), International Trade Administration (ITA), U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS), is organizing an Executive-led Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Israel, October 28 – November 1, 2012.

Israel’s oil and gas industry is growing rapidly. There are opportunities in exploration, production, pipeline construction, logistical services, workforce training and other related subsectors. Addressing an oil and gas delegation in March 2012, Shaul Tzemah, Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources stated that, "All parties with expertise and know-how in prospecting, extraction and infrastructure are welcome… It's now or never - if you want a presence, there are opportunities to be grasped.” Whether you are in the Israeli oil and gas market, or this will be your first venture, The U.S. Commercial Service, can help your company export to Israel, the largest U.S. export market in the Middle East!
http://export.gov/trademissions/israel2012/index.asp

"Peace and Security"

[a_Turk]

Been lobbying for this. A pipeline up the coast will stitch the region together and prove US/Israel commitment to and belief in Turkey’s long term viability. The region, in order to become a US client, will need to work through Turkey.