Second Israeli minister demands guaranteed local gas supplies for 50
years
Jerusalem (Platts)--12Nov2012/850 am EST/1350 GMT
Israel's commerce and industry minister Shalom Simhon wants Israel to
guarantee local gas reserves for at least 50 years, or more than double
what a government appointed panel recommended, the minister said in a
letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In his letter to the prime minister, which was made public on Monday,
Simhon called for delaying any decision on the recommendations of the
committee headed by Energy and Water Ministry director general Shaul
Tsemach until a detailed discussion can be held by the cabinet.
Simhon is the second minister to come up publicly against the
committee's recommendations. Environmental Protection Minister Gilad
Erdan has also expressed reservations and said no decision should be
taken until there is more information on the size of Israel's gas
reserves. Israeli energy industry sources said it appears the government
is unlikely to decide on the issue before the January 22 general
elections.
The commerce and industry minister said the government should approve no
more than the export of 350 billion cubic meters of gas at this stage,
which would be the minimum amount necessary for justifying the
construction of an LNG terminal.
He added that the government-appointed committee underestimated the
potential consumption of gas by local industry, which he estimated at
400 Bcm over the next 50 years for such purposes as methanol, ammonia
and urea.
The report, issued in late August, recommended allocating 500 Bcm for
exports and increased the amount set aside for local demand to 450 Bcm
through 2040. The report was seen as good news for gas exploration
companies, which have been lobbying for exporting a large part of the
gas discovered off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
The volumes for export were substantially larger than those recommended
in the preliminary report issued by the committee in April. The report
said that as much as 75% of the gas from the Leviathan field could be
exported provided that another discovery could meet local demand in the
future.
--Neal Sandler, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Fox,
jonathan_fox@platts.com
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