Israel’s current oil production of 70 tons a day will be expanded to reach from 180 to 200 tons daily before the end of the year, Dr. Menahem Bader, director-general of the Ministry of Development, reported today.
Six wells in the Heletz area are in production now, but several others are expected to come into production soon, as drillings are continued in the Heletz and other areas.
Dr. Bader also reported that tests are being conducted for the extraction of oil from bitumen shale found in large quantities in the Dead Sea area. The process used in the tests, he disclosed, was that developed by Alexander Zarchin, the engineer whose patents for de-salting sea water are being used in the Soviet Union.
Other experiments, he said, are being completed now on the use of the bitumen as fuel for generating electric power. The Government is about to take a decision whether to construct a power station using bitumen as fuel instead of fuel oil.
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