A proposed effort to extract oil from shale deposits in Israel's Valley of Elah (where David slew Goliath) has the potential to turn tiny Israel into one of the world's largest producers of oil, rivaling Saudi Arabia. According to Dr. Harold Vinegar, Chief Scientist of Israel Energy Initiatives ("IEI"), the company in charge of the project, Israel may possess as much as 250 billion barrels of oil, nearly equaling the 260 billion barrel Saudi reserves.
"This could be a game-changer in the geopolitical balance of power in the Middle East," argued Jack Halpern, head of the The Israel Energy Partnership. "Until now, OPEC oil has funded the Middle East arms race, financed terrorism, enabled Iran to pursue development of a nuclear bomb, and convinced oil purchasing nations in Europe and Asia to support Israel's enemies in the hope that they could then get access to Middle East oil. If Israel were the world's largest producer of oil, instead, all of that would change."
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