Israel Finds Gas Off the Coast of Nahariya

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

Karish 1 is owned in part by business magnate Yitzhak Tshuva's Delek Group, which is also the controlling shareholder of the offshore Tamar field from which Israel started pumping natural gas in March, Times of Israel said. Delek Group holds a total of 53% of interest in Karish 1, while Houston-based Noble Energy holds 47%.

Estimates point that Karish deposits may contain as much as two trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

In past few years Israel has discovered substantial amounts of gas off its coast. In 2009 Tamar deposits were found and then in 2010 an even larger deposit, Leviathan was discovered.

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, the newspaper said.