“We are talking about a strata which is 350 m thick and what is important is the thickness and the porosity”, Dr. Yuval Bartov, Afek Oil and Gas’ chief geologist, told Channel 2 News.
Advertisement
The plan has received government approval in October previous year and drilling finally began in December after a court-imposed injunction was lifted. “The most important thing is to know whether a rock has oil or not and we now know it has”.
Although the existence of the oil in the ground is a fact, the critical phase now is to check how easily it can be extracted and whether it involves high production costs.
The oil deposit lies in the Golan Heights, which is internationally recognized as Syrian territory but has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 war between Israel and Arab states. Israeli energy company Afek, a subsidiary of American company Genie Energy, officially revealed on Monday. Furthermore, it is likely that the oil is trapped in rock.
Vast oil reserves have been discovered in Israel that could transform the country into world energy power and change the face of the Middle East for years to come.
The firm initially received a licence to drill in April 2013 in an area spanning around a third of the Golan Heights – almost 100,000 acres.
Environmental concerns could also complicate development of the resource.
A report in Israeli business publication Globes said the potential resource could make the country energy self sufficient for years.
To summarize, the oil venture in the Golan Heights appears extremely dubious. Israel now imports up to three quarters of its oil from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, the Financial Times reported in August.
Advertisement
The author holds a PhD in mathematics, and is doing a post-doctorate at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
