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Israel
Energy
Israel depends almost
totally on imported fuel for its energy requirements; domestic
production of crude petroleum and natural gas is negligible. After
the June 1967 War, Israel acquired a large portion of its oil
supply from captured Egyptian fields in the Sinai Peninsula. In
1979 these fields were returned to Egypt. Exploration within Israel
was continuing in the mid-1980s, with interest centered on the
Dead Sea and northern Negev areas, as well as in the Helez region
along the coastal plain near Ashqelon . Despite having spent about
US$250 million between 1975 and 1985 searching for oil, Israel
remained almost devoid of domestic energy sources. By 1986 domestic
and foreign oil exploration in Israel ground to a near halt, although
Occidental Petroleum (headed by Armand Hammer) continued its seismic
studies in preparation for future drilling.
Because of the failure to find economically worthwhile deposits
of fossil fuels, Israel has devoted large sums to developing other
energy sources, particularly solar energy. In fact, Israel has
long been an acknowledged leader in this field. Overall, the structure
of Israel's energy economy has changed considerably since 1973.
Between 1982 and 1984, about 50 percent of Israel's electricity
came from coal. By 1985 oil-to-coal conversion programs made coal
the source of 17 percent of Israel's primary energy. It appeared
unlikely in 1988 that a major improvement in Israel's energy balance
would occur.
The Arab oil embargo and the Iranian Islamic Revolution have
forced Israel to diversify both its coal and oil imports. In 1986
Israel's major sources of coal were Australia, South Africa, and
Britain. The bulk of Israel's oil came from Mexico and Egypt.
Data as of December 1988
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