To many Israelis, the geology of the Middle East has always seemed more than a little unfair. While other countries in the region have been raking in hydrocarbon riches for many decades, Israel has searched for oil and gas largely in vain.

More recently, however, thanks to oil prices soaring to more than $140 a barrel – although they have settled below $130 in recent days – and rising global demand for natural gas, the country’s fledgling oil barons have a spring in their step. Across the country – in the southern desert, around the Dead Sea and off Israel’s Mediterranean coastline – companies are exploring oil and gas projects.