Israeli Expert: Additional Giant Gas Fields Offshore Israel Not LIkely

Tamar and Leviathan gas fields are probably the two first and last giant natural gas discoveries offshore Israel. This is the opinion of Yossi Langotsky, a prominent Israeli oil geologist who is regarded as the 'Father of deep water natural gas discoveries offshore Israel'.

In an interview with Natural Gas Europe, Mr. Langotsky (81), who for more than 5 decades was involved in oil and gas exploration in Israel and elsewhere, said: "The prospects of discovering another either Tamar or Leviathan in the Israeli waters is unfortunately very low. Future gas discoveries in the Israeli Mediterranean will be mainly in stratigraphic traps, whose potential rewards will be much smaller than the reserves which were found in Tamar and Leviathan Structural traps. The possible future stratigraphic traps capacity might be 100-400 bcm altogether and their discovery will be quite risky." 

The Tamar gas field, the first giant gas discovery offshore Israel is named after his granddaughter, and with a bit more luck Mr. Langotski would have been worth today about hundred million dollars. Following on the heels of Tamar giant discovery, in early 2009, Leviathan super giant field was discovered in 2010. Although Mr. Langotsky wasn’t involved in that discovery, his pioneering works and breakthrough ideas led to Tamar's discovery and to all other Structural Traps discoveries (1000 bcm). However Mr Langotsky doesn’t foresee additional giant discoveries in the Israeli waters.

According to Mr. Langotsky, who for decades was trying to lure international oil exploration companies to participate in oil and gas exploration in Israel, those companies avoided Israel, mainly because of geopolitical reasons. The only company that he was successful in bringing to Israel's offshore waters was British Gas, which successfully applied for the first time various sophisticated subsurface techniques (Basin analysis, 3-D etc.) which led to the breakthrough discovery of the Tamar giant gas field.

Nowadays Mr. Langotsky is a critic of Israel's government policy regarding the future of the offshore gas discoveries. His main concern is regarding the decision to keep only 50% of Israel's proven gas reserves for domestic purposes, which will assure only but twenty years of Israel future gas consumption. All other reserves will be allowed, according to the Israeli government decision, to be exported out of the country. "This is a very irresponsible decision," says Mr. Langotsky. 

Mr. Langotsky fully supports John Hofemiester, the former President of Royal Dutch Shell, who has recommended the Israeli government "to prevent totally any gas export," in order to assure a 50 year period of energy security to the state of Israel. "Energy security is much more important than making money, especially to Israel whose future unknown risks should be taken seriously."

Another security issue that disturbs Mr. Langotsky is that until now the Israeli government was not decisive enough to force Tamar owners to install a second delivering pipeline to Isreali shores as a redundancy to the only existing pipeline.

Ya'acov Zalel