(Reuters) Ari Rabinovitch - Israel's energy sector will be hurt in the short term by Egypt's decision to stop selling it natural gas, but the country has a number of contingency plans that will lessen the impact. Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau said, "Nearly two years now we have been preparing for a halt in supplies. So, while it causes great discomfort and will bring a rise in energy prices, Israel has been developing its energy market without depending on this gas." Gas from Egypt once accounted for 40% of Israel's natural gas, but with pipeline attacks stopping flows for most of 2012, Israel has looked elsewhere. Its own newly discovered offshore gas fields will come on line around April 2013. In the meantime, the government is rushing construction of an off-shore liquefied natural gas terminal to receive imports, and has told exploration firms to speed up drilling on smaller, more accessible fields.
2012-04-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive