Israeli may have billions of barrels of offshore oil reserves

Remember those lame jokes lamenting the fact that God led the children of Israel to the only place in the Middle East that lacked black gold. No one's laughing now.

The Israeli partners in a U.S.-led consortium developing a vast natural gas field off the Mediterranean coast say that up to 4.2 billion barrels of oil may lie under the seafloor in Israeli waters If confirmed, the find would mark the first significant oil reserves for Israel.

4.2 billion barrels would just exceed the strategic reserves of the United States.
The Delek Group said in a statement Sunday that there is a 17 percent chance of finding 3 billion barrels at a depth of 19,000 feet (5,800) and an 8 percent likelihood of finding 1.2 billion barrels about 4,600 feet (1,400 meters) deeper. Analyst Amit Mor says energy firms usually drill if there is at least a 10 percent chance of success.
Delek is working with Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. in Israel's Leviathan natural gas field. Drilling is to start in October.

Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu told his Greek counterpart that Israel would like to sell him vast amounts of natural gas and build an undersea pipeline to his country.