Resource Wars: Gaza?

Is the Gaza War of 2023 a war for Gas?

Not necessarily. But Natural Gas is likely to play a role in the war, and its expansion to Lebanon…

This would be a first for the region.

Until the late 20th Century, the Levant had mostly been a gateway to oil, with few hydrocarbon resources of its own. This may change with significant finds in Gaza and Israel more discoveries in Syria and potentially Lebanon.

Onshore, pickings have been slim

The first major finds in the Levant were made in Syria, in the Palmyra basin. Those were small finds, compared with the rest of the region. They had been declining until the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, but Syria likely has other, yet undiscovered oil and natural gas reserves, with about 800 potential structures, 60% of which have not been explored yet. There are also hopes of finding hydrocarbons in Lebanon, in the prolongation of the Palmyra basin. In Palestine/Israel, there are some oil and gas. Onshore, Israeli companies made finds south of Ashdod and around the shores of the Dead Sea, where they found commercially viable fields.

Offshore is more promising…

In the late 1990’s, there were important discoveries of natural gas off the coast of Israel and Gaza, estimated at 3.5 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of proven reserves. Those fields are located mostly across the coast of the Gaza Strip, just south of the Israeli town of Ashdod. The larger fields are the “Mari” and “Noa” fields, with estimated gas reserves of 1.7 Trillion ft3; the Noa test well alone produced 24 Million ft3/day. British Gas has also announced the discovery of the “Gaza” field 15 miles offshore, with an estimated total of 1 Trillion ft3. British Gas and ISRAMCO also announced the discovery of another large gas field, the “Nir” field, with total reserves of 274 Billion ft3.

So, Gaza’s Gas?

Simply this: When Israel withdrew from the land of Gaza, it did not withdraw from the Sea… and there is Gas underneath them waters.