1.5 Billion Barrels of Oil Discovered in Israel
by George Whitten, Worthy News’ Jerusalem Bureau Chief
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Worthy News)– An Israeli oil exploration company announced a potential oil field which holds 1.525 billion barrels worth of oil, Worthy News learned on August 18.
Givot Olam announced that production test drilling near Rosh Ha’Ayin at its Meged 5 site holds 1.525 billion barrels of oil according to a statement released by the company. However, it didn’t provide further details about the test results such as the site’s daily production capacity, the production cost and whether the site is economically viable.
Experts said it was too early to view the report and refers to the oil in place, and not the amount of recoverable oil in the reserve. The amount of recoverable oil will only be known when a final report is released in September. According to the company’s report from May 2009, the amount of recoverable oil in the reserve is likely to be 10-20%.
“The more I read the announcement, the more amazed I am”, an energy sector analyst told Ha’aretz. He further added, “It raises so many questions and we are not receiving answers as to the amount of extractable oil, which is the figure investors are waiting for from the tests.”
Despite the lack of details about the economic feasibility of the find, by early morning the media was full of headlines announcing the exploration’s possibilities. Some commentators even began comparing Israel to Kuwait.
“This is a joyful and heart-warming discovery,” Amir Makov, the Chairman of Israel Institute of Petroleum told Ynet. He further added, “This discovery does not indicate the extraction capability, and the company will have to perform additional tests and drillings until we know what this means both in terms of the company’s commercial potential and in terms of the national potential.”