Page 8 - MEOG Week 46 2021

MEOG PIPELINES & TRANSPORT MEOG

Israeli minister calls for

cancellation of UAE pipeline

ISRAEL/UAE ISRAELI energy minister Karine Elharrar this the use of coal and understands that gas is also
week called for the cancellation on environmen- only an intermediate solution until we can rely
tal grounds of a deal to develop an oil transmis- on renewable energies,” she said.
sion project to pipe Emirati oil from the Red Sea Meanwhile, in one of her most pointed jabs at
directly to the Mediterranean. predecessor Yuval Steinitz she said: “Contrary to
An agreement was signed in October 2020 the previous regime, under which connections
for RED MED Land Bridge Co., a joint venture were the determining factor, appointments to
between Israel and the UAE, to repurpose the government companies for which I am respon-
assets of the Europe Asia Pipeline Co. (EAPC) sible will be based on the appointee’s experience
– formerly Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. – to and the needs of the particular company.”
transport UAE-origin crude oil and oil-related Elharrar stressed that under her steward-
products from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean ship, Israel would focus on developing renewa-
without traversing either the Suez Canal the or ble energy, in contrast to the Steinitz era which
Strait of Hormuz, providing that the crude was was defined by the development of offshore gas
exported from the eastern emirate of Fujairah. reserves.
This has the benefit of expediting oil transit but Speaking to the Times of Israel, she noted that
environmental groups have said the environ- the ban on issuing permits related only to crude
mental and ecological risks are unacceptable. oil and not to oil shale. There are currently five
“I am calling to cancel the EAPC agreement. active licences for onshore oil production and
It poses many risks to the Gulf of Eilat, to resi- three for exploration.
dents, and it does not benefit Israel’s energy mar- In reality the move will have limited impact
ket,” Elharrar said. with Israel’s key hydrocarbons production
Noting that Emirati officials had informed coming in the form of offshore gas, which is
her that the deal should be viewed as a private unaffected.™
sector agreement, she said its cancellation “is not
expected to impact ties between the countries”.
Her call to cancel the project follows the
announcement in July that the Israeli Ministry
of Environmental Protection had delayed the
project’s development. The pipeline’s backers had
submitted an environmental risk assessment in
response to a challenge by parties concerned that
the project would heighten the risk of an oil spill.
Despite claiming the risk from increased
crude flows was minute, EAPC was informed
by the ministry that the report “did not meet
the [ministry’s] conditions”, adding that it was
“delaying the evaluation of your preparations to
increase activity in the Eilat port, until the gov-
ernment has a discussion and reaches a decision”
on the development.
The old pipeline was built in the 1960s to
transport Iranian oil to Israel.
RED MED is jointly owned by Petromal, part
of Abu Dhabi-based National Holding, Israeli
company AF Entrepreneurship, and interna-
tional infrastructure and energy company Lub-
ber Line.
Israel’s energy policy has pivoted since the
appointment of Elharrar and the accession to
environmental protection minister of the Meretz
Party’s Tamar Zandberg, who has been a vocal
critic of the proposed pipeline.
In August, Elharrar announced Israel
would no longer issue permits for onshore oil
exploration.
“Oil is a highly polluting fuel that has no place
in a country that is doing everything to reduce

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 17•November•2021