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Israel's subsea gas, oil fields heat up

International consortiums are showing increasing interest in developing Israel’s offshore oil and gas fields.
This picture taken on February 13, 2020 shows a view of a petrol station belonging to the Israeli Paz Oil Company, which controls 30 percent of the Israeli fuel market, in the Israeli settlement of Mishor Adumim in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem. - Israel on February 13 rejected as "shameful" the UN's publication of a list of 112 companies that do business in its settlements, while the Palestinians cheered its long-delayed release as a "victory for international law". The list publishe

On Jan. 20, the Israeli press reported that the Unibin Israel company, headed by Israeli-British businessman Saed Sarsur, had signed a conditioned agreement to buy some 21% of the Shimshon gas and petrol field extraction rights. The deal is expected to be sealed within 90 days, upon approval of the other extraction rights holders and Israeli authorities. The company reportedly may invest $35 million in drilling there.

The undersea Shimshon gas field, off Israel’s southern coast, was discovered in 2012. After a few years of searching, exploration rights holders concluded that its potential was much lower than originally believed and the companies moved to other ventures. But a new study was conducted two years ago and a March 2020 report found that a specific drilling spot in that zone could produce as much as 900 million barrels of petrol. The news prompted Unibin to act.

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