The mammoth ExxonMobil international oil and gas firm is considering the possibility of drilling for oil in the Mediterranean waters off the coast of Israel, according to a report by Globes, quoting Reuters.
A team from the company visited a data center in Jerusalem to examine detailed geological information about sub-sea rocks, believed to hold up to 75 trillion cubic feet of gas and 6.6 billion barrels of oil, according to estimates.
ExxonMobil recently acquired a $50,000 data package from Israel’s Energy Ministry, Reuters reported.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz met with the company’s executives in Houston this week about bidding for the right to explore and pump oil in Israel’s offshore blocks, a source told the news agency.