Israel 'officially allows' oil drilling in disputed Golan Heights

Israel 'officially allows' oil drilling in disputed Golan Heights

rt.com

Israel has authorized drilling for oil on the disputed Golan Heights, local media report. The first license has been awarded to the US-Israeli energy company Genie (GNE).

The process of granting the license began following geological tests, which indicated a large potential oil discovery in the southern Golan Heights – an area of thousands of hectares. The license covers half the area of the Golan from the latitude of Katzrin in the north to Tzemach in the south.



Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, former US Vice-President Dick Cheney and banker Jacob Rothschild are among the shareholde

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I apologize in advance if this is already posted the new search engine does not seem to like all the headings i type in.


Well isn’t this interesting and provocative.

Here is a little info on the Golan Heights for those of you who don’t know, from wiki:

As a geopolitical region, the Golan Heights is the area captured and occupied by Israel from Syria in the Six-Day War, which subsequently effectively annexed the territory in 1981. This region includes the western two thirds of the geological Golan Heights, as well as the Israeli occupied part of Mount Hermon.

The Golan Heights was under Israeli military administration from 1967 to 1981. In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law,[14] which applied Israeli "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the Golan Heights. Although the law in effect annexed the territory to Israel, it was not formally annexed.[93] The area was administered as part of Israel’s North District.
Israel's action was not recognised internationally[94] and United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 which declared the Golan Heights an Israeli occupied territory continues to apply. Israel maintains that it may retain the area as the text of Resolution 242 calls for "safe and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force".[17]

Occupied territory that is now going to be mined and exploited, as well as defended by Israel and western interests.

Here is a bit of info on the oil/gas exploration

In the early 1990s, the Israel National Oil Company (INOC) was granted shaft-sinking permits in the Golan Heights. It estimated a recovery potential of two million barrels of oil, equivalent at the time to $24 million. During the Yitzhak Rabin administration (1992–1995), the permits were suspended as efforts were undertaken to restart peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. In 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu granted preliminary approval to INOC to proceed with oil exploration drilling in the Golan.[154][155][156] INOC began undergoing a process of privatization in 1997, overseen by then-Director of the Government Companies Authority (GCA), Tzipi Livni. During this time, it was decided that INOC's drilling permits would be returned to the state.[157][158] In 2012, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau approved exploratory drilling for oil and natural gas in the Golan.[159]

To be honest, I just see this as another contentious issue between Israel/US and Syria/Iran. Borders seem to expand and resources exploited for the benefit of a few.

rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The Golan Heights would still belong to Syria if they hadn't attacked Israel first. To the winner go the spoils.

Originally posted by Carreau
To the winner go the spoils.

That statement is generally true. However, the territory has not been formally "annexed" and remains to be a issue of Contentious debate.

I just find it fascinating that they would begin this project in such a unstable time in a area that borders some of Israel's/U.S. biggest critics.

reply to post by MDDoxs


Israel might be concerned with the pipeline from Egypt being cut off and the cost of energy going up. This would give them some energy security since they would not be dependent on another country for fuel.

Who cares, there's no oil there anyway...

reply to post by SilentKoala


Wrong.

“Israel may have the third largest shale oil reserves in the world: something like 250 billion barrels. (The US is believed to have the equivalent of well over 1 trillion barrels of potentially recoverable shale, with China having perhaps one third of that amount. Canada may contain the equivalent of 2 trillion of barrels conventional oil, more than Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran combined.)”
communities.washingtontimes.com...

reply to post by burntheships


"May have" is speculation, not scientific fact. Until someone has actually dug some up there's no evidence to suggest oil exists there. In fact, companies have been drilling there for decades without coming up with so much as a trace.

I suggest you look into a company called Zion Oil and Gas, who has spent 10 years 'wildcat drilling' in Israel based not on Geology, but solely on certain Biblical passages which, when interpreted in a certain way, suggests the existence of oil. Over 10 years drilling, nothing found. Companies like this defraud investors out of millions of dollars and find their gullible investors by running columns on such dubious sources as WorldNetDaily. Seriously, if you have a dime to your name, don't drink the 'oil in Israel" kool-aid, it's one of the oldest scams in the book.

Originally posted by SilentKoala
reply to post by burntheships

 

"May have" is speculation, not scientific fact.

It is still more apporpriate than "There is none"

reply to post by SilentKoala


The OP states that the license was granted AFTER geological testing. And you can call Murdoch, Cheney, and Rothschild a lot of things but gullible isn't one of them.

There are massive amounts of natural gas in the area as well. It's called The Leviathan for anyone wanting to look it up, I have no articles on it atm.

reply to post by SilentKoala



I heard there is a large deposit of Natural gas in or near them. For whatever good that is.

Not oil though.

reply to post by Manhandler12


You can run a car off gas (LPG) and they'll probably export some to nearby places, like Palestine...

reply to post by Carreau


Israel started the 6 Day War.