Eilat LNG Terminal
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Eilat LNG Terminal was a proposed LNG terminal in Eilat, Israel. There have been no development updates in over four years and the project is presumed to be cancelled.
Contents
Location
The terminal is proposed for Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, at the northern tip of the Red Sea on the Gulf of Aqaba.
Project Details
- Owner: Natural Gas Pipelines Company, Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company
- Location: Eilat, Southern district, Israel
- Coordinates: 29.55, 34.95 (approximate)
- Capacity: 5 mtpa, 0.72 bcfd
- Status: Cancelled
- Type: Export
- Start Year:
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Background
Eilat LNG Terminal was a proposed LNG terminal in Eilat, Israel. It would be used for export to Europe and Asia through the Red Sea.[1]
The estimated cost is US$6 billion. According to the preliminary proposal submitted to Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, the facility will be located in Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC's) oil terminal at the port. The discovery of the Leviathan field in Israel, which is estimated to have 16 trillion cubic feet (470 billion cubic meters) of gas, greatly boosted the idea of building the LNG facility. It was planned for 2018.[2]
The proposal was submitted in 2012.[2] As of 2019, there have been no development updates and the project is presumed to be cancelled.
Israel's gas use and reserves
As of 2017 natural gas provides 70% of Israel’s electric power. Most of it is imported, particularly from Egypt.[3]
Israel's demand for imported LNG began in 2011 following the disruption of Egyptian supplied gas and the depletion of the offshore Yam Tethys reservoir.[4]
The country has been moving to develop its domestic reserves. Israel’s known gas reserves are 30 trillion cubic feet. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2013 estimated at least twice as much could be had offshore that count meet Israel’s energy needs for the next 30 to 50 years.[5] Reuters reported in 2013 that the USGS predicts the greater eastern Mediterranean’s Levant basin could hold up to 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. This would make it one of the world’s largest gas deposits.[6]
In 2010 Israel had declared it would use its natural gas reserves to power cars and trucks, but according to a 2017 study by the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy, the country has done little to meet this goal.[3]
As of 2014, Israel produced over 7.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year, and only exports to Palestinian territories.[7]
In August 2017 Haaretz reported that Egypt could open up its markets to Israel gas. In early August 2017 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi signed legislation forming a gas regulatory authority and permitting private companies to import gas.[8]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Eilat LNG Terminal , A Barrel Full, accessed April 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amiram Barkat, "Gov't cos want to build $6b Eilat LNG facility," Globes, Jan 10, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Oren Dori, "Israeli Government Failing to Encourage Natural Gas Use in Transport Sector," Haaretz, August 2, 2017.
- ↑ Hedy Cohen, "What does Israel Electric Corp actually pay for gas?," Globes, April 10, 2016.
- ↑ Martin Fletcher, "Israel’s Big Gusher," Slate, February 26, 2014.
- ↑ Reuters Staff, "Gazprom banks on floating terminal for Israeli LNG," Reuters, February 27, 2013.
- ↑ "Natural gas - production," CIA The World Factbook, accessed Oct 2017
- ↑ Eran Azran, "Egypt Clears the Way for Imports of Israeli Natural Gas," Haaretz, August 9, 2017.
