Page 13 - DMEA Week 40

DMEA POLICY DMEA

(From left) UAE Foreign
Minister Abdullah bin
Zayed Al Nahyan,
Bahrain Foreign
Minister Abdullatif
bin Rashid Al Zayani,
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.

US brokering continues as Israel,

UAE agree energy co-operation

ISRAEL FOLLOWING the signing of a peace agreement being acquired by fellow American company
in September, the US, Israel and the UAE have Chevron in a multi-billion-dollar deal.
The move comes after agreed an energy-focused co-operation deal. However, this comes amid a growing tide of
a peace deal between A joint statement was published by the US public opinion against fossil fuel development
Israel and the UAE. Department of Energy (DoE) on October 1, and use, which has focused on pushing for the
which said that the countries “agree to encour- decommissioning of the Haifa refinery, which is
age greater co-ordination in the energy sector, now expected to occur within the next decade.
including renewable energy, energy efficiency, Speaking to Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG),
oil, natural gas resources and related technolo- Amit Mor, CEO of Eco Energy. said that by 2030
gies, and water desalination technologies”. around two thirds of new cars in Israel will be
The DoE added: “Israel, the United Arab electric vehicles (EVs) as the country continues
Emirates and the United States are committed to its shift away from coal.
exploring collective activities in multilateral set- Mor said that domestic gas production had
tings in co-ordination with financial institutions changed Israel’s energy consumption makeup
and the private sector to enhance international from roughly 80% coal and 20% oil to around
investment in research and development and the 70% gas, with renewables providing a growing
rapid adoption of new energy technologies.” percentage. The government has a target of pro-
The UAE has an ambitious target of increas- ducing 16 GW by 2030, catering to around 30%
ing oil production capacity from the current by 2030.
level of 4mn barrels per day to 5mn bpd by 2030, For its part, the UAE is increasingly turning
while total liquids production is 2.43mn bpd. its attention to alternative energy, with energy
The Emirates are also investing heavily to boost minister Suhail al-Mazrouei saying on Septem-
gas output. ber 14 that the country intends to generate 44%
Meanwhile, Israel saw its Leviathan gas field of its power from renewable energy by 2050.
come on stream at the turn of the year and vari- Following the start-up of the first reactor at the
ous international and local firms are building out country’s new nuclear facility this year, around
the country’s gas sector. US firm Noble Energy 25% of its power demand will be met by nuclear
has played a pivotal role in developing the coun- once the remaining three reactors expand capac-
try’s gas fields, and the firm is in the midst of ity to 5.6 GW. ™

Week 40 08•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13