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October 20, 1995 - Image 47

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1995-10-20

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

stat on his path. "I said to myself,
`Wait a minute, there is more to
this than just tax laws.'
Success in the industry is part
effort and part luck, Mr. Eisen-
stat said, adding that he has been
lucky in Canada, the United
States and Israel. "What kind of
a nut goes to Israel to look for oil
and gas?" he said, laughing.
"I drill a well in Texas or in Al-
berta — and God's been very
good to me — but what would it
mean if we could get a real, great
commercial play in Israel?"
Mr. Eisenstat is passionate
about Abjac, Rabbi Lookstein
said, "not just because it will ben-
efit him directly, hopefully, but
because it will be a major contri-
bution to the building of the State
of Israel. This is like a life's dream
to be able to have a very impor-
tant production that will enhance
the Israeli economy — if gas pro-
duction takes off— and not only
his, but for others."
The Eisenstat family stamp is
all over Abjac Mazal. The com-
pany is named after Mr. Eisen-
stat's two sons, Abe and Jack —
Abraham and Yaakov. Both of
Mr. Eisenstat's sons studied at
Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem.
One attended Oxford, the other
Cambridge, and both are plan-
ning aliyah.
The Abjac wells are named for
the women in Sandy Eisenstat's
life: his daughter, his wife and his
late mother, Esther. Given the
vagaries of the oil and gas in-
dustry, isn't that hazardous?
What if the well doesn't pro-
duce? "I figured God wouldn't

start with my mother," Mr.
Eisenstat joked. In fact, he said,
"The great well is an Esther
well." That would be Esther IV.
Although Mr. Eisenstat is not
prepared to speculate on the size
of the reservoir, he's very excit-
ed.
"We've produced Esther IV for
30 days. We have watched what
the pressure is doing. If the pres-
sure starts to fall, you know
you've got a limited reservoir. The
pressure didn't fall."
Abjac now has between 10 and
15 wells south of Kiryat Shmona,
in the old Hula Swamp, in vary-
ing states capable of production.
The area is thought to be a
promising site for methane be-
cause it was once a marsh.
The company has a license
that it is about to turn into a 30-
year lease. "The government
would not issue a lease unless we
had a commercial discovery," Mr.
Eisenstat said.
He expects the company to
start selling gas for domestic Is-
raeli consumption at the end of
this year. The gas is intended for
Polrig, which will use it to gen-
erate electricity.
Israel has significant gas po-
tential, Mr. Eisenstat said, but it
involves a process that many peo-
ple don't understand.
Once he finds the gas, Mr.
Eisenstat will have to develop a
market for the methane. It can
replace oil and run cars, and can
be used for heating, air condi-
tioning and cooking. However, Is-
raelis are accustomed to using
propane from tanks.

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Forging Links With
Israeli Counterparts

FRANK PROVENZANO SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

he early days of the scrap-
metal business are part of
an oft-heard generational
tale: Back at the turn of the
century, all you needed was a
horse and a wagon to open your
own business. Then, you bought
metal scraps and found a buyer.
These days, the mission of the
recycling industry is much more
than entrepreneurial. The up-
coming United Jewish Appeal's
Industrial Mission to Israel for the
Recycling Industry will present a
first-time opportunity for Amer-
ican firms to meet with leaders of
Israel's scrap-metal industry.
`The importance of the mission
is to continue to move Israel for-
ward," said Joel Tauber, nation-
al chair of UJA and president of
Tauber Enterprises in Southfield.
Tauber Enterprises has con-
trolling interests in Key Well, a
scrap business that specializes
in stainless steel, nickel, cobalt

and titanium, and Key Plastics,
an injection molding and auto-
motive supplier. Key Well con-
trols nearly half of the U.S.
recycling market for stainless
steel and nickel alloy. This year,
Key Well's revenue will exceed
$500 million, said Mr. Tauber.
"Israel is just beginning to
boom," he said. "There are busi-
ness opportunities everywhere,
not just in recycling."
With the Israeli-Palestinian
peace accord, according to Mr.
Tauber, the longstanding Arab
boycott will dissolve, thereby
opening a Middle East market of
200 million people. "The advan-
tageous trade agreements with
Europe and the United States
put Israel at the core of what
could expand the economy of the
Middle East."
The Israeli GNP of approxi-
mately $60 billion is more than

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