Israeli Oil

Israel is arguably the least popular country in the Middle East, earning a vow from the Iranian President they would be 'wiped out from the map.' As an industrialized nation, Israel is heavily oil dependent. However, they have very limited natural reserves and must import nearly 99% of their oil, often from the very countries that despise their existence. In today's high stakes conflict with the Palestinians and Lebanese, those imports are threatened. Despite arrangements to import from Egypt and Russia, access to pipelines and other reserves could be cut off in combat operations.

To alleviate this problem, Israeli engineers have refined an old trick to reduce their dependence on imports. Shale rocks contain liquid oil, but previous extraction processes were cost prohibitive. New chemical catalysts promise to reduce costs of shale extraction to less than $20 a barrel. Global adaptation of this technology could shift the balance of power in oil supplies. Israel stands to reduce imports by 33% and the United States itself possesses enormous shale repositories.

Star This to Save in Your Profile