Israel’s National Oil Company announced that it struck oil at a drilling site near the Dead Sea.
The company said in a statement that the field could possibly produce about 80 barrels of high quality oil a day. Tests are being carried out to see whether the oil is available in commercial quantities.
Yaron Ran, the director-general of the National Oil Company, told Israel Radio that oil had been found before in the area.
Previous exploratory drilling in the Dead Sea area and off the coast of Haifa have resulted in the finding of oil races, but none revealed commercial quantities.
With the announcement of the oil find, share prices of the National Oil Company jumped 10 percent on the Tel Aviv stock exchange- the maximum fluctuation allowed- before trading was halted.
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