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Israel negotiates increased natural gas supplies
01 June 2008
Israel has been involved in international negotiations to increase its natural gas suppliers, according to Israel's National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, Ben- Eliezer said his ministry is currently in discussions with BG, Gazprom, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan about future supplies.
In Spring 2008 a senior delegation from Gazprom held talks in Israel with government officials on future supplies. In the past the Russian company had proposed the sale of up to supply up to 8 bcm of gas annually. This project is dependent on the construction of the Med Stream pipeline project from southern Turkey to Israel. Ben-Eliezer said that he hoped that a final decision on the project would be taken by late this year or in early- 2009.
In another round of meetings, National Infrastructure Ministry director-general Hezi Kugler held talks in Azerbaijan about future gas supplies. Israel currently has two gas suppliers following the recent entry of East Mediterranean Gas Supply, which began delivery of Egyptian gas. The Yam Thetis consortium has began supplying Israel for the past three years with gas from its Mary field off of Israel's southern Mediterranean coast.
BG closed down its office in Israel earlier in 2008 after month of fruitless discussions over the natural gas supply from the company's Marine field off of the Mediterranean coast of the Palestiniancontrolled Gaza Strip. Israeli ministry officials, however, explained that contacts are still continuing and that they hope an agreement will eventually be signed.
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