5 ms·

Just on the topic of energy, interestingly enough, Israel has an estimated 300 billion barrels of shale oil, or approximately the same reserves as Saudi Arabia.

Just on the topic of energy, interestingly enough, Israel has an estimated 300 billion barrels of shale oil, or approximately the same reserves as Saudi Arabia. They haven't been able to get it out because of its proximity to the water table and environmental concerns prevent drilling. But if they can figure out this problem, they might emerge as a major oil exporter.

dogma1138 8y ago
It’s tonnes not barrels and you can’t extract anywhere near that amount: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_in_Israel https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_in_Israel Their LPG fields might be quite large but at this point they likely would run the clock on shale oil before we move off carbon based fuels. We might still power jets in 2050 with oil (and even then biofuel makes more sense) but not cars and likely not homes.
- blisterpeanuts 8y ago
  No, it's barrels[1] (reference quotes other sources that estimate 250bbl). To argue that we'll "move off carbon based fuels" before the shale oil can be exploited is a baseless prediction. People have been forecasting peak oil and the death of fossil fuels for decades now, and have been wrong time and again. If oil indeed is to be replaced (and I am not opposed at all to clean energy) then what will replace it, when, and how? What happens to the billion existing cars in the world? The trillions of dollars of infrastructure? For some reason, there's a lot of fact-free wishful thinking surrounding the whole topic of energy. In fact, if the Israelis find a way to tap the shale oil deposits without damaging the aquifer in the next 10-15 years, they will emerge as a major oil producer. 1. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Israel-May-Hold-The-Worlds-Third-Largest-Reserve-Of-Shale-Oil.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Israel-May-Hold-The-Wo...
  - dogma1138 8y ago
    Wikipedia cites the Israeli geological survey http://www.ceri-mines.org/documents/27symposium/presentations/av02-4minster.pdf http://www.ceri-mines.org/documents/27symposium/presentation... 300> bln tonnes of shale with only a fraction of it practically extractable. > • Out of the enormous geological reserves only a fraction (2-4%) may be defined as mineable, possibly around 1-2 X 10^9 tons. 10^9 tons is about 6.5 million barrels of oil if they have perfect extraction. There is a good reason why Israel hasn’t been exploiting shale oil on a large scale it’s not feasible nor economical at this point, and there is a huge question mark if it would ever be.

dogma1138 8y ago

It’s tonnes not barrels and you can’t extract anywhere near that amount: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_in_Israel https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_in_Israel Their LPG fields might be quite large but at this point they likely would run the clock on shale oil before we move off carbon based fuels. We might still power jets in 2050 with oil (and even then biofuel makes more sense) but not cars and likely not homes.

blisterpeanuts 8y ago
No, it's barrels[1] (reference quotes other sources that estimate 250bbl). To argue that we'll "move off carbon based fuels" before the shale oil can be exploited is a baseless prediction. People have been forecasting peak oil and the death of fossil fuels for decades now, and have been wrong time and again. If oil indeed is to be replaced (and I am not opposed at all to clean energy) then what will replace it, when, and how? What happens to the billion existing cars in the world? The trillions of dollars of infrastructure? For some reason, there's a lot of fact-free wishful thinking surrounding the whole topic of energy. In fact, if the Israelis find a way to tap the shale oil deposits without damaging the aquifer in the next 10-15 years, they will emerge as a major oil producer. 1. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Israel-May-Hold-The-Worlds-Third-Largest-Reserve-Of-Shale-Oil.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Israel-May-Hold-The-Wo...
- dogma1138 8y ago
  Wikipedia cites the Israeli geological survey http://www.ceri-mines.org/documents/27symposium/presentations/av02-4minster.pdf http://www.ceri-mines.org/documents/27symposium/presentation... 300> bln tonnes of shale with only a fraction of it practically extractable. > • Out of the enormous geological reserves only a fraction (2-4%) may be defined as mineable, possibly around 1-2 X 10^9 tons. 10^9 tons is about 6.5 million barrels of oil if they have perfect extraction. There is a good reason why Israel hasn’t been exploiting shale oil on a large scale it’s not feasible nor economical at this point, and there is a huge question mark if it would ever be.