After finding huge quantities of natural gas of the Haifa coast, not only will Israel be energy independent by 2012, but Israel will also be a major exporter of natural gas.

According to Ynet: “Countries that are likely to make use of Israeli gas include Georgia, that is currently dependant on a Russian gas supply despite the hostile relations between the two nations, Cyprus that has a similar problem since it is dependant on gas from Turkey, and Italy and Greece.

“The discovery of Israeli gas is a national holiday for all citizens of the State of Israel. After two of our drillings in the same area were successful and turned out to be commercial discoveries, it is probable, and we are hopeful, that the natural gas potential in areas that we have rights over, off the shores of Israel and Cyprus, seems to be monumental.”

This is huge for Israel. Add to a vibrant hi tech industry and now a vibrant energy industry should help spur domestic economic gowth for many years o come.

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Oh, the beauty of have controls on gasoline. Not. It was announced last night that the price of 95-octane rose by over 8%.

According to Ynet: “The price of octane-95 gasoline is now set at NIS 5.46 ($1.29) per liter, an 8.33% rise compared to March. In Eilat a liter of octane-95 gasoline costs NIS 4.74 ($1.12), an 8.47% rise compared to last month. The gas station service charge will remain unchanged from March, at 13 agorot (3 cents) throughout the country and 11 agorot (2.6 cents) in Eilat. As of February, the price of octane-96 gasoline is no longer supervised, and therefore its maximum price is not included in the ministry report. The ministry recommended consumers compare prices of octane-96 gasoline at different gas stations, since this could lead to a 5% save in gas prices. The increase in gas prices follows the continuing rise in the price of oil. During the month of March the price of a barrel of oil rose by 25%, from $40 a barrel at the start of March to $50 a barrel by the end of the month.”

Funny that while crude oil prices dropped by more than 70% the prices at the pump  dropped a fraction of that. Humm….price controls.. Ughh.

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Avner Oil and Exploration, one of the partners in the Tamar natural gas field off the Haifa Coast, received another 12 new offshore drilling licenses. According to Globes: “Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) today received 12 new drilling licenses for the offshore Ruth and Alon prospects. Avner is one of the partners in the Tamar prospect, where huge natural gas reserves were found earlier this year. Eleven of the new licenses each cover a 100,000-acre area and the twelfth covers 79,500 acres. The licenses are valid for three years, through the end of February 2012. Avner’s work plan calls for mapping and analyzing the two prospects with new seismic surveys within nine months, followed by a feasibility study, more seismic studies, and the drilling of offshore wells by February 2011.”

It’s reasonable to think that there is more in the way of natural gas in the vicinity. It’s hard to think that there is just one deposit of natural gas. If Avner finds more of the fuel, Israel could become a global player for natural gas. How crazy is that?

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Indications that the recent find of natural gas of the coast of the Israeli city of Haifa were pointing to a pretty big find. Now it turns out that it may be huge. According to Globes: “The consortium drilling the Tamar-1 well offshore of Haifa has received encouraging news from the drilling operator, Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL), which reported today that flow test results showed that the potential size of the original estimate of 3.1 trillion cubic feet has now been increased 60% to an estimated resource potential of 5 trillion cubic feet. Noble Energy chairman and CEO Charles D. Davidson said, “The test results from the Tamar well confirm our initial analysis that the discovered reservoirs are very high quality. This discovery is clearly of a size for commercial development. We hope to extend the success in Israel by testing Dalit, our second prospect.”

This is so big for Israel, that it’s hard to comprehend. Who could imagine that a country with little in the way of natural resources is now going to be a net exporter of natural gas? Suddenly Israel will be a player, along with its’ enemies in the region, in the global energy market.

I say forget Shai Agassi and his Project Better Place. Israel should convert from gasoline to natural gas to power automobiles. If Israel could develop this technology, it would be huge, as certain parts of the US, Canada could also power their cars on natural gas.

With experts saying that these wells could go commercial in 5 years, I would expect a pick up in Israeli start-ups that are going to tackle the natural gas issue.

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