Israel’s Levant Basin, How Much is it Worth?
June 25, 2010
Back in April I wrote that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) released a report that the Levant Basin contains 1.689 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 122.4 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas. The Levant Basin lies both onshore and offshore and includes most of middle and northern Israel and coastal Lebanon and Syria. The basin includes the exploration areas of Noble Energy offshore and Zion Oil & Gas onshore.
Most of the data the USGS report contained came from research conducted between 2000 and 2008 by Dr. Michael Gardosh, a researcher at the Geophysical Institute of Israel, and Dr. Yehezkel Druckman, who until a few years ago was Petroleum Israel’s Commissioner. Dr. Druckman now serves on the Zion Oil & Gas Board of Directors.
So in today’s dollars, how much oil and gas does the USGS say the Levant Basin holds in undiscovered resources? A friend ran the numbers for me:
| Levant Basin Dollar Values | |
| 122 Trillion Cubic Feet Natural Gas | 122,000,000,000,000 |
| Price per 1000 Cubic Feet (6/22) | $4.79 |
| Convert Trillion Cubic Ft | 122,000,000,000 |
| Total $ Value – Natural Gas | $584,380,000,000.00 |
| 1.7 Billion Barrels of Oil | 1,700,000,000 |
| Price per Barrel Oil (6/22) | $77.87 |
| Total $ Value – Oil | $132,379,000,000.00 |
| TOTAL VALUE – LEVANT BASIN | $716,759,000,000.00 |
That’s nearly $718 Billion. Most of the Levant Basin lies within the land and territorial water of Israel. Offshore, some of the ‘undiscovered’ the natural gas has been discovered and will be powering Israel in the next few years. Onshore, the ‘undiscovered’ oil, I believe, will be discovered soon.
Related posts:
- USGS Says Israel Has 1.7 Billion Barrels of Oil
- Canada’s Bontan moves into Israel
- Bontan Raises $7.5 Million for Israel Exploration
Obedience vs. Proactivity
June 25, 2010
Management guru Stephen Covey says that being ‘proactive’ is the first of seven habits of highly effective people. According to Covey’s ridiculously popular book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (of course), being proactive doesn’t just mean taking initiative, it means choosing your response to what happens to you. Covey writes that most people [...]Zion Releases Drilling Company Video
June 18, 2010
Zion Oil & Gas released a company video last week in which Bill Ottaviani (Zion’s President and Chief Operating Officer) and Richard Rinberg (Zion’s Chief Executive Officer) explain why Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. has decided to establish Zion Drilling, Inc. and purchase Aladdin Middle East Ltd’s 2,000 horsepower drilling rig, as soon as practicable. Filming took place in both Israel and Turkey, and gives us a chance to learn the strategic thinking behind some of Zion’s business decisions.
The film was shot and produced by British filmmaker Tom Boulting. Boulting’s company, Charter Films, Ltd. is also working on the full length documentary, “49:1 The Zion Story”. News on the making of the film can be found at www.zionthemovie.com.
Related posts:
- Zion Oil Introduces ‘49:1 The Zion Story’ at NRB
- Special Report: Zion – The Movie
- Zion Oil Announces Proposed New Drilling Subsidiary
Israel Gas Ignites Tough Talk From Neighbors
June 18, 2010
Israeli Natural Gas Find Keeps On Getting Bigger But Could Ignite Trouble
Vosizneias Tel Aviv – Israel’s natural gas bonanza in the eastern Mediterranean just keep getting bigger, with reserves currently pegged at around 25 trillion cubic feet.
That’s enough to guarantee the Jewish state, dependent on imported energy since it was founded in 1948, energy security for at least two decades.
The strikes at three fields, dubbed Tamar, Dalat and Leviathan, could even turn Israel into a gas exporter and transform its economy. There are indications that there’s oil down there as well.
But the offshore finds may become a casus belli (case for war) as Lebanon, Israel’s northern neighbor and longtime battleground, lays claim to the gas fields as well.
Lebanon’s As-Safir newspaper reported June 8 that the biggest field found off Israel, Leviathan, extends north into Lebanese waters and could well aggravate tensions between the countries.
Under the headline “Israel prepares to steal gas fields in Lebanon’s waters,” the leftist daily said if Israel tried to siphon gas from Lebanese territory, Beirut would be forced to defend its resources.
One of Hezbollah’s top leaders, Hashem Safieddine, head of the Iranian-backed movement’s executive council, has declared it won’t allow Israel to “loot” Lebanese gas resources.
Israel’s military chiefs say Hezbollah currently possesses around 45,000 missiles and rockets, which could be fired at Israel’s emerging energy infrastructure centered on the port of Haifa.
The city was repeatedly hit by Hezbollah rockets during the 34-day war with Israel in July and August 2006.
These days, Hezbollah purportedly has long-range weapons that have greater accuracy and carry more destructive warheads than those used in 2006. These are capable of hitting just about anywhere in Israel.
In the event of renewed hostilities, and both sides are talking tough again, Israel’s energy installations would be prime targets.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri, has urged the Beirut government to move swiftly to start its own offshore exploration or risk Israel claiming whatever resources there are.
“Israel is racing to make the case a fait accompli and was quick to present itself as an oil emirate, ignoring the fact that, according to the maps, the deposits extend into Lebanese waters,” said Berri.
The speaker, who has submitted a parliamentary bill to launch exploration of Lebanon’s potential offshore reserves, declared: “Lebanon must take immediate action to defend its financial, political, economic and sovereign rights.”
Israeli officials insist that the gas fields lie within Israeli territorial waters.
However, the liberal Haaretz daily noted Tuesday, “Israel has yet to declare its exclusive economic zone, though this usually applies to what in the sea, such as fish, and not what lies under the continental shelf.”
It quoted Professor Moshe Hirsch of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, an expert in international law, as saying that problem could arise when the continental shelf is shared by more than one country.
But he maintained the gas lies squarely in Israel’s sector of the continental shelf and so there was no need top declare an exclusive economic zone.
The first strikes were made early this year at the Dalit field off Hadera, south of Haifa by a consortium headed by Noble Energy, a U.S. company with headquarters in Houston, which is working with three Israeli firms.
Tamar, 50 miles east of Haifa, was found in April. Last week Nobel raised its original estimate of the field’s size by 33 percent to 8.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.
But then came the discovery of Leviathan, double the size of Tamar at an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of gas, further off the coast.
Nobel said that total offshore reserves could top 30 trillion cubic feet, double Britain’s giant gas fields in the North Sea, with a conservative value of some $300 billion. Nobel is moving a drilling platform from the Gulf of Mexico to step up exploration.
Gas production is to begin in 2012. Israel is planning to build a liquefied natural gas plant near Haifa but it probably won’t go online until 2015.
The gas finds, particularly Leviathan, which may turn out to be even bigger, are “nothing short of a geopolitical gamechanger,” Gal Luft, executive director of the U.S.-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, wrote in Haaretz Sunday.
“Altogether the basin the eastern Mediterranean … could contain an amount of gas equivalent to one-fifth of U.S. natural gas reserves.”
Related posts:
- Lebanon Speaker Urges Fast Action on Offshore Gas Reserves
- Offshore Gas Field is a ‘Monster’
- Canada’s Bontan moves into Israel
Givot Olam Drills Successful Oil Well
June 18, 2010
Israel drills successful oil well
JERUSALEM, June 16 (UPI) — Israel’s Givot Olam Oil Exploration said its drilling explorations at its Meged 5 well near Rosh Ha’Ayin have been very successful.
As a result of the initial operations, Givot Olam Oil Exploration is returning its hydraulic fracturing equipment to its foreign suppliers, Globes reported Wednesday.
Since the Rosh Ha’Ayin test bore produced oil mixed with gas instead of a water flow the bore, Givot Olam Oil Exploration Director Shmuel Becker told journalists, “We’re returning the (hydraulic) frac(turing) equipment because there is natural oil flow in the well.”
Givot Olam Oil Exploration reported that the test bore produced an oil flow of 302 barrels over nearly 20 hours. Following expert analysis, based on the test bore site’s natural oil flow from the Meged 5 well, Givot Olam Oil Exploration decided to dismantle the hydraulic fracturing and propelling equipment at the wellhead and send it back overseas.
In light of the Meged 5 bore hole success, Givot Olam Oil Exploration has begun preparations for tests of section 6 of the well.
Related posts:
- Givot Olam’s Meged #5 Produces Oil
- Givot Olam Struggles with Oil Discovery
- A Closer Look at Givot Olam
The Definition of Success
June 11, 2010
For the last two weeks I’ve been promising you twelve keys to a truly successful life; but all I’ve shared with you are two commandments from the Bible. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I also [...]John Brown’s ‘The Oil of Israel’ Available on Friday
June 10, 2010
Zion Oil & Gas Founder John Brown’s book The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled will be released from the printer on Friday June 11. In The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled, Brown tells the story of his faith his journey and the vision he believes G-d has put on his life: to discover Israel’s oil.
In the Preface Brown writes:
“So, why did God choose Zion to discover the oil in Israel? The answer is I don’t know why, but He did, and I believe I was told by God that it was to fulfill His promises to Israel (Isaiah 14:24) (Zechariah 1:17) and to bless the body of Christ. (Isaiah 23:18 NIV) and Zion Oil only exists because of God’s faithfulness to Israel (Psalms 36:5, 89:1-5) and not because of my faith (Isaiah 25:1).”
The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled will be available in bookstores and on Amazon this summer. To order copies now, directly from www.oilinisrael.net, click here.
Related posts:
- New Book by Zion Founder John Brown
- The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled
- John Brown Interviewed on Fox Business
The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled
June 10, 2010
The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled
by: John Brown
78 pages; softcover: $11.99 $9.99 (+ $5.00 S&H) www.oilinisrael.net reader’s special (10% of the sale price will go toward Israel charities. Genesis 12:3)
The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled, the first book by Zion Oil & Gas Founder John Brown telling the story of Brown’s vision to discover the “Oil of Israel”. Includes Brown’s personal testimony and the scriptures that led to the search for Israel’s oil and the founding of Zion Oil & Gas. Brown shares his insights on true biblical faith and the vision and calling of Zion Oil. The book includes the full color maps of Israel’s ancient tribal boundaries and of Zion’s license area as well Zion’s progress to date in the search for Israel’s oil.
John Brown writes in the Preface: “So, why did God choose Zion to discover the oil in Israel? The answer is I don’t know why, but He did, and I believe I was told by God that it was to fulfill His promises to Israel (Isaiah 14:24) (Zechariah 1:17) and to bless the body of Christ. (Isaiah 23:18 NIV) and Zion Oil only exists because of God’s faithfulness to Israel (Psalms 36:5, 89:1-5) and not because of my faith (Isaiah 25:1).”
“Prophetically, I believe oil will be found on Zion’s leases.”
HAL LINDSEY
“John Brown, an evangelical Christian and founder and chairman of Zion Oil and Gas, believes that there is indeed oil in Israel.”
DR DAVID JEREMIAH
“This is such a vital, vital thing; we shouldn’t be surprised at all that God would save this for the end times and that God would save it for his chosen people Israel. We need to pray for John Brown, for Zion Oil and for all the people that are involved in this.”
Daystar Founder
MARCUS LAMB
“Suppose that a pool of oil, greater than anything in Arabia … were discovered by the Jews … This would change the course of history. Before long Israel would be able to independently solve its economic woes …”
DR TIM LAHAYE
“Israel? Proven reserves? Billions? When I read those words, the hair on the back of my neck stood up … By the time I sat down to write ‘Jihad’, I had decided to add a fictional oil strike – discovered by a fictional American investment
company working with a fictional Israeli company … Little did I know.”
JOEL ROSENBERG
“Dear John, I will continue to pray earnestly for the success and unlimited prosperity of Zion Oil in Israel. A major oil development in Israel would create geopolitical earthquake. I believe you have been called to the kingdom, ‘For such a time as this.’”
Most Sincerely,
Pastor John Hagee
78 pages; softcover: $11.99 $9.99 (+ $5.00 S&H) www.oilinisrael.net reader’s special (10% of the sale price will go toward Israel charities. Genesis 12:3)
Related posts:
Israel, Turkey Tensions Not Affecting Zion Oil
June 10, 2010
Turkay and Israel Flags Fly at Zion Well Site
According to Zion CEO Richard Rinberg, recent political tensions between Turkey and Israel are not affecting Zion’s work program or future plans. Zion Oil & Gas operates it exploration company in Northern Israel using a drilling rig and crew owned by Turkish drilling company AME. Future plans call for a new company, Zion Drilling, to to be formed between Zion Oil & Gas and AME.
Zion Oil & Gas has just released a corporate video detailing their exploration efforts and plans for the new drilling company. To view the video click here or on the photo at the top of this article.
In a recent letter to stockholders, Rinberg states that in spite of international tensions, Zion Oil and AME will conduct ‘business as usual’.
“I received a telephone call from a concerned stockholder asking about the recent event offshore Israel and its effect on the relationship between Zion Oil & Gas, Inc (in Israel) and Aladdin Middle East Ltd (in Turkey).
I have been in contact with Cetin Mumcuoglu, the General Manager of Aladdin Middle East Ltd, in Ankara, Turkey, and he is not concerned. International incidents will occur from time to time, but business continues without interruption.
He commented to me, “ We will continue with our business relationship even more strongly.”
Zion Oil & Gas and AME have excellent relations based on mutual respect and trust, so we expect that recent events will have little effect on our continuing business relationship.
Additionally, our Caesarea office and our petroleum exploration areas are in Northern Israel, well away from the Gaza area in Southern Israel, so everything is proceeding as normal.
At present, we do not anticipate that the recent event will have any material adverse effect on our business.”
Related posts:
- Zion Drilling Venture in Israel Signals New Era
- Russia, Turkey: “Israel won’t get our gas”
- Zion Oil Announces Proposed New Drilling Subsidiary
Russia, Turkey: “Israel won’t get our gas”
June 9, 2010
Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan with Russia's Vladimir Putin
By BLOOMBERG
06/08/2010 18:57
Russia, Turkey denies Israel fuel due to “economic considerations.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that they don’t plan to export natural gas to Israel via a new pipeline to Turkey.
“There is no such thing on our agenda,” Erdogan said at a news conference with Putin in Istanbul when asked about the gas.
Russia has held talks on shipping fuel to Israel from a pipeline under the Black Sea. OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly, is negotiating supplying the fuel, Gazprom chairman Viktor Zubkov said on March 22.
Israel may not need the extra gas, which could be transported to Syria or Lebanon instead via the planned Blue Stream-2 pipe, Putin said.
“The Blue Stream gas may not go to Israel because of economic considerations,” Putin said. “I don’t think Israel needs the gas because they found a reserve recently.”
Turkey has said it’s considering paring economic and military ties with Israel and has recalled its ambassador to the country after nine Turks were killed on an aid flotilla headed
for Gaza and intercepted by Israeli commandos last week.
Related posts:
-
Best Sellers
