Israeli Company to Begin New Gas Drill Near Gaza

Israeli company to begin new gas drill near Gaza

Published today (updated) 19/10/2010 14:21

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) --

An Israeli company has received license to drill for gas in two areas in the Gaza-Israel border on Tuesday, a day after drilling began at a controversial offshore site in the north, Israel Radio reported.

Energtek Inc., a leader in hi-tech natural gas solutions and Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) technology and run by former Israeli MP Modi Zanderberg is currently raising funds at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in order to commence drilling, the station said.

The company said the geological survey in the Sa'ad and Nir Am kibbutz near the border revealed that there is an estimate 26 million barrels of producible oil at the site at a depth of 1.8 to 2 km underground.

The drilling could generate $2 billion for the company at the site, but the survey also found a 15 percent probability rate of finding oil at the site.

Lebanon disputes economic water border with Israel

The report follows news Monday that a US-Israeli exploration group began drilling at the Leviathan natural gas prospect in the eastern Mediterranean, which Lebanon has laid claim to.

Led by Texas-based Noble Energy, the Haifa site will be primarily used for export, according to Israeli Delek Drilling, as a site closer to shore has been located, that would be enough to supply Israel -- which is looking for energy independence -- with natural gas for about 20 years, British news wire Reuters reported.

The site is 135 km off the northern shore and drilling began in waters 1.6 km deep, the news wire reported.

Meanwhile, a source told the the Israeli business news site Globes that Lebanon has asked the UN to set the border of its economic waters with Israel following continued disputes over the discovery of recent gas fields. According to the site, if the claim were substantiated it would include "northern margins" of the present sites.

If the UN accepts Lebanon's request, the subject will be debated in the Security Council or another UN body authorized to make a decision. The belief is that in such a case then the UN will ask the two sides to find an arbitrator or will act as one itself as happened in 2000, the site reported.

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