In 2009, the U.S company Noble Energy discovered gas in the Tamar field off the north coast of Israel (near Haifa), along with its Israeli partners Delek Drilling, Avner Oil & Gas Ltd, Isramco and Dor Gas Exploration. The Tamar-2 well was drilled at a distance of 16888 feet and a depth of 5530 feet. Shortly after this discovery, the consortium discovered the Dalit field in 2010, near the Tamar field, which is being already developed. Gas production from the Tamar field is planned to begin in mid-2012, according to the sale and purchase agreement signed with the Israel Electric Corporation, whereby a minimum of 2.7 billion cubic feet of gas would be supplied to the power company over 15 years (in what is considered the most important energy contract in Israel to date). As a result, it is expected that the revenues incurred by the consortium will reach about 9.5 billion dollars. This also means that there is a binding legal commitment to complete this project and start production on schedule, and that the consortium had obtained the necessary funding to complete the project, based on the sale and purchase agreement. In June 2010, Canada's Bontan Corporation announced that its Mira and Sarah prospects, adjacent to the Tamar field in the northern waters, have up to 5.71 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. According to preliminary reports by Noble Energy, the total average reserves in the Tamar and Dalit fields amount to about 6.3 trillion cubic feet. It is noteworthy that the primary bloc of the Tamar field, where production is set to begin soon, lies 35-40 miles south of the Lebanese waters, while two small blocs in the field lie between Lebanese and Israeli waters, or in other words, they are shared fields. But in truth, the maritime boundary between the two countries is not drawn yet (see the article published by Mr. Khadduri in the Palestinian Studies magazine issued by the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut, spring 2010). Moreover, the data obtained from a new seismic survey indicate that there are additional shared fields in the two countries' common waters, and also between Israel and Cyprus. It should be mentioned that Nobel Energy has been drilling for oil in Israeli waters since 1998 and discovered the Mary-B field, where production started in 2004, i.e. four years after the discovery. Its relatively limited production capacity is of approximately 600 million cubic feet per day. The Mary-B is located along Palestinian territorial waters, and is also a shared field. There is another field that was discovered and that is being developed by British Gas in Palestinian waters near the Gaza shore. The field is ready for production, but Israel has refused to allow production and gas delivery directly to Gaza and the power station there, without directing the pipeline to the port of Ashkelon first. In other words, Israel wants to control the quantity of gas supplied to Gaza, to know its volume and subsequently, its financial value. However, these conditions were rejected by the operating company and the Palestinian officials, and no gas is being produced from the Palestinian field. In truth, there was a discussion in official circles in Israel regarding the potential risks and threats from the extensive reliance on gas to generate electricity. The source of this security concern at the time was the halt in the flow of gas from offshore platforms or pipelines to power plants, and the fact that it is impossible to compensate the gas from the neighbouring Arab countries. Many Israeli officials hence continuously demanded that Israel switches to coal (the majority of current power stations in Israel operate on coal, although it is imported, but from countries that are non-hostile to Israel), and to use coal in parallel to natural gas in the event of industrial accidents or sabotage of gas installations. In that scenario, coal can be quickly used to compensate for gas shortages, without resorting to shutting down power stations and cutting off electric supply. This dispute erupted in the first phase of gas discoveries. But now, with the increasing number of discovered fields and their large reserves, it is possible to dismiss these concerns, because the shortage from one platform can be compensated through another, or through a comprehensive pipeline network. It should be mentioned here that in the past, Israel warned against importing gas from Arab countries or through them. The only contract in place to import gas at present is from Egypt, and involves limited quantities. For years, Israel attempted to import Russian or Azeri gas via Turkey. However, all these attempts have failed so far. *. Mr. Khadduri is an energy expert
