November 14th, 2016,11:20am
Ya'acov Zalel
Israel's energy minister Yuval Steinitz sees a "very rosy future" for Israel's natural gas economy in general and for gas exports in particular. Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv November 14, he said talks would lead to sales to three destinations in three directions: north to Turkey, south to Egypt and west to Italy. Leviathan Partnership already signed a contract to export gas to Jordan, east of Israel.
According to a report in business website Globes, Steinitz said that professional teams from Israel and Turkey started negotiations concerning laying a 500-km undersea pipeline from Leviathan gas field to Turkey. The previous week, Sahul Meridor, the director-general of Israel's energy ministry met with his Turkish counterpart to discuss a framework agreement.
October 20th, 2016, 12:10pm, by Ya'acov Zalel
Israel's energy ministry is exploring the option of building a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Israel. The ministry said that it will assist entrepreneurs to explore that option and consider what the consequences would be for the country's energy sector.
Two years ago the ministry published a request for information for GTL in order to reduce dependence on oil in transport. In 2011 the government set a target of reducing oil consumption by 60% by 2025.
"We are working towards widening the Israeli natural gas market," the ministry director general, Sahul Meridor said in a statement. "Innovative technology of liquid fuel production from natural gas will enable the use of gas in other sectors of the economy and to increase demand for natural gas."
