More signs of gas found at offshore drilling site

Significant signs of natural gas were discovered Wednesday at the Karish 1 drilling platform, off the coast of Nahariya.

Karish 1 is owned in part by business magnate Yitzhak Tshuva, who is also the controlling shareholder of the offshore Tamar field from which Israel started pumping natural gas in March.

The Tamar deposit, which was discovered in 2009 approximately 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Haifa, holds an estimated 8.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

According to discoveries made at the site in recent months, the Karish deposit could contain as much as two trillion cubic feet of natural gas, about one-fourth of the amount of gas contained in Tamar.

On Wednesday evening, Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom lauded the announcement as “praiseworthy,” adding that the discovery would help Israel develop its energy market and economy.

“Increasing the supply of natural gas in the deposits will allow us to supply more natural gas to the local market and increase the natural revenue, which will be utilized by investing in education, welfare, health, the Negev and the Galilee, and the citizens of Israel.”

The gas from Tamar is expected to help meet Israel’s energy needs for the next 20 years, and will save the economy some NIS 13 billion ($3.5 billion) per year.

In addition to Tamar, in 2010 an even larger deposit, Leviathan — which boasts an estimated 16-18 trillion cubic feet of gas — was discovered 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of Haifa. It is expected to become operational in 2016, at which time Israel expects to begin exporting natural gas.

New gas finds will help lower the cost of electricity and stop price hikes by making Israel more energy-independent and less dependent on imported gas. However, the decision to export the Leviathan gas has raised the ire of many Israelis, who believe keeping the gas on Israeli soil is in the country’s best interests.