Palestine’s forgotten oil and gas resources

A fair distribution of oil and gas resources in the Levant Basin will be key to achieving peace in Israel-Palestine.

After Israel’s latest military operation, and the ensuing massive devastation in Gaza, the international community has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help with the reconstruction of the Strip. However, a lasting end to conflict between Israel and Palestine will not be possible without long-term investment in Palestine’s economic and human development, running into billions of dollars per year. An overlooked means of generating these revenues would be to allocate Palestine its fair share of benefits of oil and natural gas reserves in the occupied territories and the Eastern Mediterranean, which are currently being exploited only by Israel. A recent study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) points out that new discoveries of natural gas in the Levant Basin are in the range of 122 trillion cubic feet, while recoverable oil is estimated at 1.7 billion barrels. These reserves offer an opportunity to distribute and share about $524bn among the different parties in the region.