The world, it seems, is bursting with oil and gas, and governments may favour it over renewables
Let’s start 2012 with an optimistic prediction. Energy prices, particularly of oil and gas, will gradually fall, fuelling a better than expected economic recovery. I know, you think (probably correctly) that I drank too much festive spirit, so just to reassure you of my usual contrariness, there is a grim sting in this story.
Take Israel as an example. An old Israeli joke says that Moses was not too smart a guy as he managed to lead the Israelites to a promised land which happened to be the only bit of the Middle East which did not have any oil. Actually, it turns out that Moses might have had it right all along.
Under the waters of the nearby Mediterranean lies a geological formation known as the Levant basin. It is chock full of gas and has quite a lot of oil. According to Yehosua Stern, director-general of Israel’s Natural Gas Authority, the country’s proven gas reserves now stand at 300 billion cubic metres (bcm), a figure which he expects to rise to 1000 bcm.
Peter Jones
http://www.thescotsman.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment