By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
There have been several reports over the past few days that the Palestinian Authority has begun oil exploration in Ramallah.
I have not been able to verify these reports.
I can say that it sounds farfetched.
Even if someone has set up what appears to be a drill site it is highly unlikely that there is any oil in Ramallah - other, of course, than olive oil. World class geologists have combed the region and found no oil.
More importantly, Ramallah is on a mountain range. And oil exploration is extremely risky and very expensive.
I do not see any serious oil groups taking that risk in a location that is such an obvious non-starter.
There is a back story and a motivation for the announcements. The Palestinians want to make it appear as if they found something --- something very valuable--- something the Israelis could not find and - this is the most important part - that the oil belongs to the them, the Palestinians, and not to the Israelis.
But it is all still highly unlikely.
There have been several reports over the past few days that the Palestinian Authority has begun oil exploration in Ramallah.
I have not been able to verify these reports.
I can say that it sounds farfetched.
Even if someone has set up what appears to be a drill site it is highly unlikely that there is any oil in Ramallah - other, of course, than olive oil. World class geologists have combed the region and found no oil.
More importantly, Ramallah is on a mountain range. And oil exploration is extremely risky and very expensive.
I do not see any serious oil groups taking that risk in a location that is such an obvious non-starter.
There is a back story and a motivation for the announcements. The Palestinians want to make it appear as if they found something --- something very valuable--- something the Israelis could not find and - this is the most important part - that the oil belongs to the them, the Palestinians, and not to the Israelis.
But it is all still highly unlikely.
Micah@MicahHaleprn.com
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