Israel eyes gas bonanza from large offshore find

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters


JERUSALEM, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A U.S.-Israeli exploration group said on Sunday it has discovered large natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean with the potential to meet Israel's gas needs for well over a decade.

Led by Noble Energy (NBL.N), the group said it found more than 3 trillion cubic feet (88 billion cubic meters) of gas at the Tamar exploration well, 90 km off the Israeli northern port of Haifa.

News of the deposit, which is three times as large as a site already in production off the country's southern coast, sent energy shares soaring in a country anxious to reduce its dependency on foreign fuel.

"This is one of the most significant prospects that we have ever tested and appears to be the largest discovery in the company's history," Charles Davidson, Noble's chief executive, said in a statement.

"Early indications are that the resources identified are very substantial, at least equal to our pre-drill estimated gross mean resources of over three trillion cubic feet. Subject to the collection of additional data, the resource estimate for Tamar could further increase," he said.

Noble Energy owns 36 percent of the site while Isramco Negev (ISRAp.TA) owns 28.75 percent and Avner Oil Exploration (AVNRp.TA) and Delek Drilling (DEDRp.TA) 15.625 percent each. Dor Gas Exploration owns 4 percent. Delek and Avner are units of conglomerate Delek Group (DELKG.TA).



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKLI27068120090118

[Parche]

1. Good, then we wont have to send them our tax $$ anymore

about time

[jaxx]

3. That's what I was thinking.

They can send us billions a year to help out.

[Hardrada]

6. They can start to pay us back. finally.

[McCamy Taylor]

9. And they can leave Gaza alone, too. Let the Palestinians have their gas.

[naaman fletcher]

13. Bwahahaha..

that's a good one.

[Joanne98]

2. Noble Energy, Inc. to Participate in the Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference

HOUSTON, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) announced today that Charles D. Davidson, the company's Chairman, President and CEO will participate in a panel discussion at the Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference entitled "E&P: Offshore, Onshore, and International as a Mid/Small Cap." Mr. Davidson's panel discussion will begin at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, January 15.


Noble Energy is a leading independent energy company engaged in worldwide oil and gas exploration and production. The Company operates primarily in the Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, and deepwater Gulf of Mexico areas in the United States, with key international operations offshore Israel, UK and West Africa. Noble Energy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is traded under the ticker symbol NBL. Visit Noble Energy online at www.nobleenergyinc.com.

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-08-2009/0004951458&EDATE=

[Joanne98]

4. Gas found near Cyprus reports Israeli media

The Cyprus government signed agreements with Egypt in 2005 and Lebanon in early January this year delineating their sea boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean to facilitate future underwater oil and gas exploration.

In November the government accused Turkey of harassing two Panamanian-flagged oil research vessels in international waters.

The dispute came as little surprise to many political commentators, some of whom have long predicted that oil and gas exploration by either side would stoke tensions in the region.

Turkish Cypriots have strongly objected to any exploration by the Greek Cypriots and said that any natural reserves discovered belong to both sides.

Some studies suggest that there could be undersea reserves of up to eight billion barrels of crude oil off Cyprus.

http://www.famagusta-gazette.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=69&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=7327&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2350&hn=famagusta-gazette&he=.com

Sounds like BUSH and Israel are screwing Cyprus.

[Joanne98]

5. The New Cyprus Controversy: Oil

Cyprus is inviting offers to exploit billions of barrels of offshore oil,heating up the controversy over the economic isolation of Turkish-Cypriots

The Cypriot government has raised Turkish ire by issuing an international tender for oil and gas exploration off its southern coast.

The offshore-licensing tender begins on February 15 and industry giants such as BP, Exxon and Mobil have shown an interest, requesting seismological data prepared by Oslo-based Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS), an oil-prospecting company.

Offshore oil and gas resources surrounding Cyprus in the past have been reportedly estimated at six billion to eight billion barrels, worth about $400 billion at current market rates. But there are no reliable figures.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.helleniccomserve.com/cypruscontroversy.html&usg=__f7iIcclBSNPbJ5FtdKlkcAEZiGY=&h=1000&w=971&sz=851&hl=en&start=4&sig2=LuJrOSQSts9XBt5s1lECOA&tbnid=cdZtJURG1sCPdM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=145&ei=i69zSYX_FsiCtwe-i8nXCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCyprus%252Bgas%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

[Joanne98]

7. Gas rights owned by Deleck Group.

Retirement Savers

The country’s 15 largest real estate companies have about 140 billion shekels in overall debt, more than three times the amount in 2003, according to Dun & Bradstreet Israel.

“Pointing a finger at Delek Group Ltd. and Delek Real Estate, as well as Africa Israel, as the central reasons for the situation in the capital and pension market is a radical distortion of the reality,” Delek Group said today in an e- mail. The companies “have always been able to cover their liabilities and will continue to do so in the future.”

About 50 billion shekels of that debt is in the hands of those saving for retirement in so-called provident funds, long- term investment vehicles similar to U.S. 401(k) accounts that offer tax-free savings for employees.

Investors are suffering partly because of the billionaires’ property losses and from concern the companies they control won’t be able to pay debts or find refinancing because of the credit crisis.

Manhattan Property

Leviev, 52, made his money as owner of the world’s largest cutter and polisher of diamonds and was No. 227 on Forbes’s list of the world’s richest people last year, with a net worth of $4.5 billion. His charitable activities include helping fund Jewish schools in his native Uzbekistan.

Leviev’s Africa Israel Investments Ltd. bought the former Times headquarters on Times Square for $525 million. It paid $200 million for the 19th-century Clock Tower building on Manhattan’s lower Broadway, saying it would be converted into 55 apartments designed by Italian fashion company Gianni Versace SpA.

Those overseas deals were backed in part by investors and fund managers who acquired the company’s bonds, rated AA by Standard & Poor’s-Maalot. Leviev, the chairman of Africa Israel, moved to London last year, spending a reported 35 million pounds ($51 million) for a property in the Hampstead neighborhood.

Tshuva is estimated by Forbes to be worth $3.5 billion. As a contractor, he profited from the construction boom during the immigration of Russian Jews to Israel in the 1990s. The 60-year- old took over Delek, Israel’s No. 2 oil and gas company, in 1998.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aawaWZBTZNQE&refer=home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delek_Group

[Joanne98]

8. Deleck up 42%

http://www.tase.co.il/TASEEng/General/Company/companyMainData.htm?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fTASEEng%2fGeneral%2fCompany%2fcompanyMainData%2ehtm%3fsubDataType%3d0%26companyID%3d001154%26shareID%3d01087949&NRNODEGUID=%7b52A25D9F-B95C-4427-A985-117D3B93BCD2%7d&NRCACHEHINT=Guest&CompanyID=001095&subDataType=0&ShareID=01084128

Tel-Aviv 18/01/2009

Closing Price (0.01 NIS) 25,600

Change(%) + 42.22%

Turnover (NIS) 97,261,587

Trans. 4,668

Capital Listed for Trading 11,345,415

Market Cap (NIS thousands) 2,904,426

Base Price 18,000

Opening Price 24,100

High 29,450

Low 23,400

Yield MTD (%) + 106.5%

Yield YTD (%) + 106.5%

[Maat]

10. I listened to a program in which they discussed natural gas resources ...

that are owned by the Palestinians (the January 14th show):

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/show/34.


It's in this "Guns and Butter" show:

[Joanne98]

11. That's a different well. This one is between Cyprus and Israel...

But you're right there is gas off gaza. I hope they get to keep it now.

[Maat]

12. Yep; thanks for the clarification (n/t).

[daleo]

14. 90 miles off Haifa

That could bring in Cyprus, which brings both Greece and Turkey into play. Perhaps some slant drilling disputes are in the future?