Pipelines to transport the natural gas produced by Houston’s Noble Energy could bring more peace to the Middle East as multiple nations benefit from the abundant gas resources, Israel’s energy minister said Wednesday.
“I think it might serve stability at least in part of the Middle East,” said Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of infrastructure, energy and water, while speaking with a panel of international energy ministers at IHS Energy CERAWeek in downtown Houston.
The group of global energy ministers touted their moves to focus more on natural gas to fuel economic growth — and away from coal.
Israel recently worked out a regulatory framework for Noble to develop the massive Leviathan gas field offshore of Israel. The region is largely unexplored and more discoveries are expected, Steinitz said.
Because Israel is small and can only consume so much of the gas, Steinitz said, gas pipelines are under consideration to Egypt, Turkey and even a long one to Greece. Doing so will require partnering more with other Middle Eastern countries for the shared benefit of the gas.
“The Middle East is not the most convenient neighborhood on the face of Earth,” he said, specifically noting the risks near Syrian waters.
Steinitz said admitted Israel’s relationship with Turkey has turned more tense in recent years, but he said trade talks are advancing.
“I think we are very close to such settlement,” he said.
Mexico also sees strengthened ties with the United States through its ongoing energy reform and the construction of multiple natural gas pipelines between the two nations, said Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, the Mexican energy secretary, while speaking through a translator.
“To us, the United States is our most important commercial partner,” Coldwell said.
“There are those of us who want to build walls and those who want to build bridges,” he said, referencing the proposals pushed by presidential candidate Donald Trump and others.
However, Coldwell said he believes those wanting to build bridges — and pipelines — will win out.
Perhaps no nation though has invested more in natural gas of late than Australia. Major liquefied natural gas export projects will come online soon, making Australia the world’s largest LNG exporter by 2020, said Josh Frydenberg, the Australian energy minister.
He projects global LNG demand to grow 50 percent by 2040.
“Australia has positioned itself to benefit from the demand,” he said.
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