VZCZCXRO2967
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #0226 0321258
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011258Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5260
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND EEB/ESC/IEC/ENR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ENRG IS
SUBJECT: OIL IN ISRAEL?  DRILLING YIELDS POSITIVE 
INDICATIONS 
 
(U)  1. Israelis may no longer be able to consider their 
country "the one place in the Middle East without any oil," 
if positive indications announced last week yield commercial 
quantities of oil.  The area around the Dead Sea has long 
been a target for exploration, and on January 24, a 
consortium of Zerah Oil and Gas Exploration (50%) and Delek 
Group subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas (25%) and Delek Drilling 
(25%) announced indications of oil in drilling at its Tzuk 
Tamrur 4 site.  Cautious, the consortium said that it is 
premature to estimate the size of the reservoir, noting that 
they will make the determination whether to pursue production 
tests once logs are analyzed. However, pre-drilling seismic 
studies indicated that the site contains a closed structure 
with the potential to contain 6.6 million barrels of 
high-quality oil. 
 
(U)  2.  Also last week, Givot Olam Oil, Ltd. stock prices 
rose 15.1 percent when it notified the Tel Aviv Stock 
Exchange (TASE)--just one month after announcing the 
discovery of over 60 percent gas in drill mud at Meged 5 and 
estimated reserves of 2000 million barrels of oil (10-20 
percent recoverable)--that it will conduct production tests 
at four segments of the Meged lease (I/11), located 20 km 
north-east of Tel Aviv near Rosh Ha'Ayin in central Israel. 
Initial examination of the logs shows an oil structure over 
600 meters long, of which 50-100 meters have the potential 
for production, according to the report.  However, production 
tests are necessary to determine whether the site will be 
commercially viable. 
 
(U)  3. COMMENT: Caution is prudent in this speculative 
industry.  Nonetheless, commercial quantities of oil in 
addition to the offshore natural gas reserves discovered last 
year would go far toward Israeli energy independence.  It 
remains to be seen whether these petro-discoveries dampen the 
GOI's enthusiasm for alternative energy development. 
 
Cunningham