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Archive for the ‘Oil’ Category

Israel Matzav: IDF considering missile interceptors for gas rigs

israelmatzav.blogspot.com4/10/12

The IDF is considering installing missile interceptors on Israeli gas rigs in the Mediterranean. The interceptors are meant to defend against Hezbullah, although I wonder whether it might be more likely that the rigs will need to …

Again, Israel find the Lord's blessing(Oil and Gas) March 13, 2010 …

frankdimora.typepad.com3/13/12

This is a special note to anyone who chooses to read my prophecy documentary. My book was written in the hope that those reading it will be driven to the Bible where they should have been in the first place….

Modiin Energy and Adira Energy Corporation just announced an oil and natural gas discovery at their offshore Gabriella and Yitzhak Licenses, which are situated just 24 km northwest of Tel Aviv.

According to Adira, Gabriella and Yitzhak have a best estimate of 232.2 million barrels of oil, including 110.1 million barrels of contingent oil.

Together, the Gabriella and Yitzhak licenses have a best estimate of 1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas with drilling set to begin at end of year.

Shallow Water

The discoveries were made in the Jurassic strata, located in shallow water 24 kilometers northwest of Tel Aviv and estimates are based on a 3D seismic survey by Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. (NSAI).

In its notice to the TASE, Modiin says the best estimate for Gabriella is 128.4 million barrels of oil.

Adira, a Canadian company, owns 30% of the Gabriella license and 85% of the Yitzhak license.

Modiin, controlled by Tzahi Sultan and Nochi Dankner through IDB Holding Corp. Ltd., owns 70% of Gabriella.

Gavrieli said that the discovery is,

"Significant! Surveys conducted in recent months found oil in the target strata. The potential oil reservoir is 128 million barrels of oil, and the contingent reserves are an additional 120 million barrels".

"The Gabriella license in near shore in shallow water. At a time of soaring oil prices, this is good news for IDB, Modiin, Adira, and for the Israeli economy, which is trying to diversify its energy sources".

He later hinted that it will be easier to produce oil than natural gas from Gabriella.

"Modiin today became a leading player in Israel’s energy market. This is good news; we found high quality oil inshore, which can be extracted. A previous well there produced 500 barrels of oil a day. In other words, we have an oil target in commercial quantities that can meet Israel’s energy needs for 18 months".

The natural gas discovery is a fifth the size of the 9 trillion cubic foot deep water Tamar discovery, owned by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), Noble Energy Inc., and Isramco Ltd. .

Sultan said,

"Bottom line, there is oil. It’s 100%. Secondly, the quantities are commercial".

Asked by Globes about the timing and costs of a well, Sultan replied,

"Drilling at Gabriella should begin by the end of the year. We’re now working on the budget, and when we have a figure, we’ll notify the TASE. I believe that, during 2013, we’ll have more figures about the production rates, and a precise figure on the size of the reservoir. As for actual oil production, it will be about five years to the first well".

Adira CEO Jeffrey Walter said,

"There’s a best estimate of 79 million barrels of oil at the Yitzhak license and an additional 25.6 million barrels of contingent oil, as well as one trillion cubic feet of natural gas. I said that I came to find oil and gas and was laughed at. I was told that there is no oil here. They were wrong".

Walter said that the latest technologies have been used to discover oil and gas in the Eastern Mediterranean following the discoveries in Syria and Egypt.

Describing the Syrian-Egyptian arc, which passes through Israel, he said,

"We’re now connecting the dots".

Israel’s Shale Oil

What is perhaps less well-known, but is perhaps of equal or more imoportance, is that a new assessment that was released late last year by Dr. Yuval Bartov, who is the chief geologist for Israel Energy Initiatives, at the yearly symposium of the prestigious Colorado School of Mines suggests that Israel’s oil shale reserves are the equivalent of 250 billion barrels which can be put into perspective by comparing it to Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves of 260 billion barrels.

Largest Ever, Upcoming U.S.-Israel Joint Drill Sending Message to …

www.theblaze.com1/8/12

Arrow 3 Defense Missile Launch Test (Photo credit: Israeli Defense Ministry via Israel Hayom). A planned American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special attention on the heels of a 10-day Iranian naval exercise …

Israel and US to hold joint missile drill | Aerospace & Defence News

aerospace.firetrench.com1/9/12

Israel and the United States are to hold a joint missile defence exercise, the Israeli military said late on Thursday. ASDNews … Last week it test-fired three missiles during war games east of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf. …

An upcoming American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special media attention because it comes on the heels of a ten-day Iranian naval exercise, plus Iranian threats of closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Israeli Defense Forces played down the timing of the announcement, calling such periodic exercises “routine:”

“These exercises, which are part of a long-standing strategic partnership, are planned in advance and part of a routine training cycle designed to improve the interoperability of our defense systems. Like other bi-lateral exercises, Austere Challenge 12 represents another milestone in the strategic relationship between the US and Israel, as well as a step forward in promoting regional stability".

“The exercise scenario involves notional, simulated events as well as some field training, and is not in response to any real-world event".

“The exercise has been planned for at least two years and therefore has no relevance to any world events".

The AP quoted a senior military official who said on condition of anonymity:

"Thousands of American and Israeli soldiers from different units will take part, and the drill will test multiple Israeli and U.S. air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets".

In a speech last month, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta previewed the exercise, citing it as an example of what he called,

"The administration’s unprecedented levels of defense cooperation with Israel to back up our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security".

And on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Panetta stated two red lines for the U.S.:

"Our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us. I think they need to know that, that if they take that step, that they’re going to get stopped. We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.".

See also, What Would Trigger A US Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?

And Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on the same show said he believes,

" Iran has the capability, for a period of time to block the Strait of Hormuz, but we would take action and reopen the Straits".

Efraim Inbar, who is director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, says that even if it’s not intended as a response to Iranian moves:

“Any military exercise has political implications. The military organ is always connected to political even if that’s not the intention on the part of the Americans or Israelis. It’s a clear political signal to the bad guys. After we saw the military exercise by the Iranians last week, everybody with political sensitivity tends to believe this is a counter-flexing of muscle".

Inbar also addressed expressions of isolationism in the U.S., something which has been gaining more media attention due to the presidential campaign of GOP candidate Ron Paul:

“This type of exercise expresses the importance of Israel to the U.S. particularly when the U.S. is seen as being weak in the region. It is leaving Iraq, it is on its way out of Afghanistan. Israel is probably the only place a U.S. military airplane will eventually be able to land in the Middle East".

“U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation is beneficial to both sides. The U.S. is a super power and we are a small state but in our area contrary to what isolationists say in the U.S., we all still need allies, or what used to be called ‘calling stations’. Israeli ports are open to the U.S. In fact, the only port where the U.S. can probably bring ships safely in the Eastern Mediterranean is to Israel. Looking at the other countries: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, the Mediterranean is becoming an Islamist lake".

And an Israeli Air Force officer emphasized that not only Israel gains from the relationship:

“The Americans are eager to conduct this exercise, we are their laboratory in the field of missile defense. A laboratory because Israel has extensive firsthand experience of absorbing incoming rockets and missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah and regularly activates its Iron Dome system to combat the threat".

The Telegraph reported from London that the UK will deploy its largest warship, the HMS Daring, to the Persian Gulf to,

“send a significant message to the Iranians”.

The UK destroyer is due to arrive in late January.

And Oil Supplies?

Western powers have agreed a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles which could replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz.