Israel Poised to Provide Fuel to Europe as Alternative to Russia

April 13, 2022

by: JNS

Wednesday, 13 April 2022 | Europe is considering importing fuel from Russia because of shortages due to that country’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and Israel is ready to fill in the gap with its own natural-gas reserves.

“The EastMed pipeline is still an option, and the company advancing it, Poseidon, is in the final stages of geophysical and geotechnical surveys of the pipe’s route in our waters, and those of Greece and Cyprus,” said Orit Ganor, director of natural gas international trade at Israel’s Ministry of Energy, reported AFP.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union hopes to remove its dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal by 2027.

Another option for a pipeline would be through Turkey, but tense relations with Israel have thwarted the idea. However, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has of late been seeking to thaw relations—notably meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog last month—and its energy minister is planning a visit to Israel in the coming weeks, according to the report.

Israel currently exports some natural gas from its Leviathan and Tamar offshore fields to Egypt and Jordan.

Posted on April 13, 2022

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on April 12, 2022. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our publication today. See original article at this link.)