Israel starts pumping gas
Gas from Israel’s massive new field in the Mediterranean started flowing to shore on Saturday.
Minister for Energy and Water Silvan Shalom dubbed the day “Energy Independence Day”, and Yitzhak Tshuva, the businessman who led the drilling, said that it’s a newfound self-sufficiency for the country’s electricity supply. “This is a great achievement for the Israeli economy and the beginning of a new era,” said Tshuva.
President Shimon Peres praised Tshuva’s “vision and steadfastness”, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the achievement is “good for the Israeli economy and for all Israelis”.
The Tamar gas field is located 50 miles off the Israeli coast, and is thought to contain 8.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which is enough to generate around 20 years worth of electricity for Israel. But there is more to come – work is still taking place at another Israeli field, Leviathan, which is estimated to hold 16 trillion to 23 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The start of the flow from Tamar comes at a particularly important time for Israel, as unrest in the Sinai Peninsula has led to repeated attacks on the pipeline that carries gas from Egypt, raising questions about the reliability of the Egyptian supply.
Brenda Shaffer, director of the energy policy management program at the University of Haifa and one of the Middle East’s most prominent energy researchers, told The AJN that the development is “very important for Israel”, but cautioned about what she called “geopolitical hype”, meaning speculation that it will strengthen Israel’s strategic standing in its region. At current volumes, it is “not enough to justify a major export project, but could be an important source of energy for neighbouring Middle East countries”, she reasoned.
Despite the joy at the gas flow in Israel, there was criticism of the fact that it started on Shabbat. Orthodox media condemned this, and Peres described it as a “mistake”, saying: “I don’t know why they made the decision.”
NATHAN JEFFAY
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