Several issues related to the production of natural gas in Israel’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) have not yet been properly analyzed and no decision concerning them has been adopted. Some of these issues have economic as well as political strategic implications, and particularly as they are within an industry that is guided by long term policies and a contractual framework, it is important that they be considered thoroughly. In the wake of developments in the gas market that suggest that China may become a major customer of...
In the past few years large gas fields have been discovered in Israel and Cyprus, and the Eastern Mediterranean region is believed to be holding substantial amount of natural gas and perhaps oil. The public agenda has so far focused on the economic potential of these new findings. Natural gas will assist the local industry, lower the electricity prices while polluting less, and has potential to revolutionize car fleets which are currently dependent on oil. Furthermore, gas will probably be exported to Europe or Eastern Asia, and the...
An historic development has marked Israel’s energy scene in recent months. In January 2009, a large natural gas reserve was discovered at the Tamar 1 drilling site (90 km west of the Haifa shoreline), and in late March there was a report of a natural gas discovery at the Dalit 1 drilling site (60 km west of the Hadera shoreline). The potential of this site is still being examined. These discoveries come on the heels of other discoveries of natural gas in the Mediterranean off the coast of Israel, starting with the discovery of...
The book includes ten analytical essays written by INSS researchers that dwell on Israel’s strategic environment in the period under review. The ongoing challenges represented by the Palestinian issue and the Iranian nuclear program are well documented, as well as developments elsewhere in the Arab and Muslim world and in Israel.
During the month of October, the price of Brent light crude oil reached a peak of $90 per barrel. That surge follows continuous rises since 2003. In real terms, oil prices are now significantly higher than during the “first wave” of price rises after the 1973 Yom Kippur War and are close to the all-time high reached during the “second wave” that followed the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
The Middle East is the world’s largest producer of oil, and oil is the largest source of energy. At the same time, the analysis of oil is placed here within the wider context of total energy supply, including so-called unconventional energy sources. This study examines the role of energy and oil in the Middle East strategic balance. It puts the sharp rise in oil prices of 1999-2000 in its historical context, showing how these were the result of economic factors, as opposed to the price rises of 1973-74 and 1980, when events in...
