Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., January 14, 2009 Tevet 18, 5769 | | Israel Time: 02:27 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File

Natural gas detected off Haifa coast By Avi Bar-Eli Tags: israel news Israel could be on the brink of a historic discovery: preliminary tests indicate there's natural gas n the sandy layer beneath the sea floor at the Tamar offshore drill site, 90 kilometers west of Haifa. Euphoria reigned on the stock exchange yesterday, where shares of companies associated with the undersea exploration shot up. Energy sources are more cautious, noting that what's been found are indications, not a definite field that can be exploited. This layer of sand is "suspected" of housing chambers saturated with gas. Advertisement The drill at the Tamar 1 permit site reached 5,000 meters below sea level, where geologists surmise there may be a field with up to 109 billion cubic meters (BCM). Sources caution that the analysis does not mean there really is a large field. They prove only that there is gas at the site. Over the next 5-10 days, the explorers will send their machinery down a few hundred meters more, and will conduct more tests to determine the accessibility and size of the chambers in the sandstone layer. Even if a gas reserve is found, it will have to be sufficiently vast to justify the high cost of extracting it from deep in the earth's crust and bringing it to the shore. The event is significant nonetheless and sent stocks in the companies participating in the exploration soaring. They'll be keeping investors updated as more information comes to The Tamar 1 drill site is considered the most promising of the potential sites in the country's coastal waters. Sources now put the probability of a 109 BCM natural gas reserve at the site at 35%. Tamar is a joint venture between the U.S. company Noble Energy (36%), Isramco (28.9%), Delek Drilling and Avner Oil and Gas Exploration. It's named after the grand-daughter of geologist Yossi Langotsky. Drilling is difficult: the sea floor is 1,700 meters below the surface of the water and under the sand is a 1,400-meter thick stratum of salt. Langotsky, now 74, became involved in 1998, when Isramco consulted with him about finding a partner to explore the Tamar area. Langotsky had long held a theory that there was gas in the area. Israel was (and is) unpopular among the great fuel companies, in part because any fuel fields in its territory are considered too small to be interesting (or they'd have already been found). The quest for an international partner went nowhere, but Langotsky did not despair. He knocked on the doors of about 100 big companies, describing his theory of fossil fuels in the Mediterranean seabed. Finally he found a willing ear at British Gas, later renamed BG. BG was interested and even gave Langotsky an option to buy 5% of future rights, if any. The geologist founded a limited partnership called STX with businessman Beny Steinmetz, who was responsible for the financing side. STX joined forces with Isramco, Clal, Petrochemical Enterprises and Dor Chemicals. They received a permit from the state to search over 12,000 kilometers of seabed. The partners narrowed the search to three small areas. One was Tamar. Though the field was ready for drilling in 2002, the partnership heaved: BG ultimately bowed out entirely, and Isramco took the reins. Unable to find an international partner, it joined up with Yitzhak Tshuva and the Tethys Sea group. These days, Langotsky feels a bit like Moses the patriarch probably did: He could see the promised land but couldn't reach it. Langotsky lost his holdings in Tamar before the exploration properly began, but his was the drive behind the discovery announced toward midnight on Monday. Three months ago, Steinmetz decided to withdraw from the exploration consortium after having invested $2.5 million. STX was supposed to inject $2.25 million more in December, to finance the start of drilling, but Langotsky says that because of Steinmetz's last-minute withdrawal, he didn't have time to find a new partner. Will he sue? "I regret that at the last minute Steinmetz decided not to continue," he told TheMarker yesterday. "We had a partnership in which he was responsible for the financing. I'll wait for the final results of the drill and then act as my legal counsels advise. It hurts: I feel like an artist whose creation has been expropriated." Bookmark to del.icio.us   From the bunker Hamas says Gaza won't break, victory over Israel is near. Banned Israel bans Arab parties from running in upcoming elections.

Read & React Bradley Burston / Gaza War Diary IV - Can people die of ambivalence? Responses: 42 Amos Harel with IDF in Gaza / 'Let's finish what we started' Responses: 76 Ari Shavit: World cannot, must not condemn our war on Hamas Responses: 108 U.S. arms shipment to Israel canceled due to Gaza conflict Responses: 15 Yoel Marcus: It's not Israel's fault it has a strong, well-run army Responses: 66 More Headlines 02:11 Olmert ignoring calls from Barak, Livni for immediate Gaza truce 00:58 Egypt tells Hamas it must commit to one year cease-fire in Gaza 21:51 U.S.: Olmert never asked us to abstain from UN vote on Gaza truce 23:56 Settler shoots, kills Palestinian who allegedly hurled rocks at him 20:44 IDF Chief: Hamas bombers posing as Israeli troops in Gaza 21:32 Shin Bet: Some 565 rockets, 200 mortar shells fired at Israel since start of Gaza op 20:31 Clinton: U.S. must address Israel security, Palestinian aspirations 23:58 Turkish PM denies anti-Semitism, says 'Jewish-backed media' spread false info on Gaza 22:09 IDF officer critically hurt in Gaza; 6 other soldiers also wounded 20:12 IDF bombs some 30 smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza 00:44 Israel's Waltz with Bashir, on 1982 Lebanon War, gets Oscar nod 19:48 Embedded with the IDF in Gaza / 'Let's finish what we started' 23:57 UN human rights body: Gaza violence has 'devastating' effect on children 17:58 WATCH: IDF says Hamas has professionalized use of human shields in Gaza 23:58 Israel denies Syria claim it left traces of uranium at nuclear site bombed by IAF 21:34 Palestinian reporters charged with leaking censored info on Gaza to Iran TV 17:59 A week after expelling Israeli officials over Gaza op, Venezuela looks to repair ties 22:25 Italy's Jews: Pope Benedict negating 50 years of interfaith progress 23:57 UN Chief Ban, en route to Mideast: Hamas, Israel must stop fighting now 21:02 Hamas' take on the Gaza war? Watch it on YouTube 11:17 ANALYSIS / World cannot, must not condemn our war on Hamas Previous Editions Select Day 13 jan 12 jan 11 jan 09 jan 08 jan 07 jan 06 jan 05 jan 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan 31 dec

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