The largest reserve of natural gas, over 16 trillion cubic feet, has been discovered off the coast of Israel, and is estimated to be worth more than $95 billion, U.S. company Noble Energy Inc. announced on Wednesday.
Noble Energy owns 39.66% of the prospective discovery, alongside Israeli partners Delek Group Ltd. units Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP (22.67% each), and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP with 15%.
The reserve, Leviathon, is the largest amount of natural gas discovered in the world in the last decade and is located in approximately 5,400 feet (1,645 meters) of water, about 130 kilometers offshore of Haifa and 29 miles (47 kilometers) southwest of the Tamar discovery.
Last year, Israeli company Isramco announced that reserves of natural gas have been discovered at its Tamar 1 offshore drill site 90 kilometers west of Haifa, making it the largest ever discovered in Israel until now - three times bigger than that of the "Yam Thetis" consortium and worth $15 billion.
Noble Energy CEO Charles Davidson said, "Leviathan is the latest major discovery for Noble Energy and is easily the largest exploration discovery in our history."
TVNL Comment: One year ago, President Obama signed ito law a deal for $US2.77 billion ($3 billion) to go to Israel in 2010 and a total of $US30 billion over the next decade. Israel is the recipient of the largest chunk of foreign aid the US distributes. Will this continue, now that all this natural gas has been discovered. You betcha.
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