- TEL AVIV -- The bible has
inspired many to have faith in heavenly joy, but now an Israeli company
believes it has helped it find wealth on earth.
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- In an announcement that could shift the power balance
in the Middle East, it claims to have discovered a £3 billion oilfield
in the centre of Israel. But Tovia Lushkin says his company, Givat Olam,
needs £18 million to develop wells and extract the oil.
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- The find comes as instability in Saudi Arabia and Iraq
has forced oil prices to a 15-year high which may yet slow global economic
growth.
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- Similar price hikes in the 1970s following the Yom Kippur
War between Israel and Egypt transformed North Sea oil from an expensive
dream into an affordable reality.
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- Lushkin, 54, an ultra-orthodox Jew and one of the founders
of Givat Olam, or Eternal Hills, based his search for oil on a mix of knowledge
and religion.
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- He studied geophysics in his native Russia and worked
for major oil companies before emigrating to Israel in 1984. Oil was first
discovered in what was then Palestine by the British in the 1930s, but
despite several attempts no one has yet extracted significant amounts.
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- The only oilfield in operation is about to run dry. Discovered
in 1955, it has pumped £270m worth of oil over almost 50 years. But
in recent years it has been producing a mere 25 barrels of oil a day, a
drop in the ocean in a country that consumes 300,000 barrels a day.
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- Lushkin is reticent on the subject of his divine inspiration
in finding oil. 'Usually people take it the wrong way. I am happy to discuss
it with people who also believe. Others tend to be a bit cynical,' he said.
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- But in past interviews he has revealed that his inspiration
was chapter 33 of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, in which Moses assures
Joseph that his land will be abundant with fruit and minerals - Lushkin
assumes this includes oil.
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- The text goes: 'Blessed of the Lord be his land, for
the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth
beneath... and for the precious things of the eternal hills [Givat Olam],
and for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof.'
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- Lushkin fears the religious association could detract
from the seriousness of the enterprise. 'We are a professional company
and we do everything professionally,' he said. But he takes pride in his
company's policy of not drilling on the Sabbath.
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- The discovery was announced last month to the Tel Aviv
stock exchange and though the company's shares rose by 55 per cent it is
only valued at around £3.6m, a fraction of the £18m needed
to develop the field. 'The company is much undervalued. The markets have
not yet appreciated what we have discovered, although hopefully that will
change,' said Lushkin.
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- Large reserves of natural gas have been found off the
coast of Israel and the Gaza Strip which could supply the country's needs
for 20 years. But Givat Olam wants to concentrate on searching for oil
in the Holy Land.
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- 'We didn't think it would work but it is beautiful that
it has,' Lushkin said. 'There is crude oil in Israel and lots of it, but
you have to know where to look for it.'
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1237654,00.html
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