War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields
Peace Power
direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas
reserves.
This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas
reserves off the Gaza coastline.
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated
Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and
Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25
year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian
Authority.
The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60
percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the
Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz,
October 21, 2007).
The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the
construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5,
2001).
The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is
contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map
below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along
the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza
Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of
1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars.
These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of
Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.
Who Owns the Gas Fields
The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a
legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.
The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and
the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish
de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.
British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government.
In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to
exploration and development rights over the gas fields.
The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major
turning point. Palestine's sovereignty over the offshore gas fields
was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated
unequivocally that "Israel would never buy gas from Palestine"
intimating that Gaza's offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.
In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow
British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza's offshore
wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)
The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of
the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank,
under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.
In 2006, British Gas "was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to
Egypt." (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to
shunting the agreement with Egypt.
The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a
proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to buy gas from the
Palestinian Authority." The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with
profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the
Palestinians.
Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with
Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli
Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the
Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:
"Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods
and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled
Government." (Ibid, emphasis added)
The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999
between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser
Arafat.
Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza's
offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the
Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the
sale of the natural gas to Israel.
The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:
"Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds,
that the proceeds would fund terror". (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan,
Address to the Knesset on "The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve
Hamas," March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does
the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza's Coastal Waters
Threaten Israel's National Security? Jerusalem Center for Public
Affairs, October 2007)
Israel's intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be
paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from
the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their
office in Israel.(BG website).
Invasion Plan on The Drawing Board
The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under "Operation Cast Lead" was
set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:
"Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak
instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over
six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to
negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas."(Barak Ravid, Operation
"Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning,
Haaretz, December 27, 2008)
That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas,
with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the
purchase of Gaza's natural gas:
"Both Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of
National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler agreed to inform
BG of Israel's wish to renew the talks.
The sources added that BG has not yet officially responded to Israel's
request, but that company executives would probably come to Israel in
a few weeks to hold talks with government officials." (Globes online-
Israel's Business Arena, June 23, 2008)
The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group)
coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza
initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an
agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already
in an advanced planning stage.
Moreover, these negotiations with British Gas were conducted by the
Ehud Olmert government with the knowledge that a military invasion was
on the drawing board. In all likelihood, a new "post war" political-
territorial arrangement for the Gaza strip was also being contemplated
by the Israeli government.
In fact, negotiations between British Gas and Israeli officials were
ongoing in October 2008, 2-3 months prior to the commencement of the
bombings on December 27th.
In November 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of
National Infrastructures instructed Israel Electric Corporation (IEC)
to enter into negotiations with British Gas, on the purchase of
natural gas from the BG's offshore concession in Gaza. (Globes,
November 13, 2008)
"Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of
National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler wrote to IEC CEO
Amos Lasker recently, informing him of the government's decision to
allow negotiations to go forward, in line with the framework proposal
it approved earlier this year.
The IEC board, headed by chairman Moti Friedman, approved the
principles of the framework proposal a few weeks ago. The talks with
BG Group will begin once the board approves the exemption from a
tender." (Globes Nov. 13, 2008)
Gaza and Energy Geopolitics
The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the
sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international
law.
What can we expect in the wake of the invasion?
What is the intent of Israel with regard to Palestine's Natural Gas
reserves?
A new territorial arrangement, with the stationing of Israeli and/or
"peacekeeping" troops?
The militarization of the entire Gaza coastline, which is strategic
for Israel?
The outright confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral
declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza's maritime areas?
If this were to occur, the Gaza gas fields would be integrated into
Israel's offshore installations, which are contiguous to those of the
Gaza Strip. (See Map 1 above).
These various offshore installations are also linked up to Israel's
energy transport corridor, extending from the port of Eilat, which is
an oil pipeline terminal, on the Red Sea to the seaport - pipeline
terminal at Ashkelon, and northwards to Haifa, and eventually linking
up through a proposed Israeli-Turkish pipeline with the Turkish port
of Ceyhan.
Ceyhan is the terminal of the Baku, Tblisi Ceyhan Trans Caspian
pipeline. "What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-
Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline." (See
Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global
Research, July 23, 2006)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11680
"The Palestinians are, in aggregate, energy rich. For the past six
years, the Palestinian Authority has been sitting on a major gas field
that contains at least 1.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas."
http://www.epalestine.com/PalestineEnergy.pdf
“If the Israeli government can ever formulate a binding peace accord
with the Palestinians, both entities could have access to enough
natural gas reserves to satisfy their energy needs for at least 100
years.”
This statement was made a few years back by a representative of
British Gas, one of the world’s largest energy exploration and
development companies specializing in finding and developing natural
gas fields, including offshore ones in bodies of water such as the
Mediterranean Sea.
Such a gas field has been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean,
with the major portion located about 50 kilometers off the coast of
Gaza.
http://greenprophet.com/2008/07/27/1044/natural-gas-middle-east/
Peace Power
JANUARY 7, 2009 8:19 PM
Anonymous said...
My son is employed here in Texas building equipment needed to fracture
natural gas wells. About 3 months ago he told me his employer had a
contract build fracturing equipment for Israel. I would say this awful
situation in Gaza has something to do with the "Gaza Marine Field
containing 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas". Source:
http://www.oilandgasinvestingglossary.com/palestines_natural_gas_troubles.asp
Peace Power
World Energy Monthly Review
Oil, Peace and Palestine: Energy Key to Holy Land’s Past, Future
by Robert Bryce
Few people consider Ramallah a key locale when it comes to
the future of the energy business in the Middle East. The
home of the Palestinian Authority and the de facto capital of
the still-nonexistent independent state of Palestine, Ramallah
is a cramped, somewhat disheveled city of 60,000 or so. The
city, which traces its roots back to the 16th century, lies about
10 miles north of Jerusalem. Like other towns on the West
Bank, it has plenty of poverty and plenty of dashed dreams, yet
plenty of hope that someday, somehow, Palestine will become
an independent country. If statehood does occur – and even
if it doesn’t – energy will continue to be the key driver of
Palestine’s economy. It may also be the flashpoint that leads to
more conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Ever since the Six-Day War in 1967, the fitful peace negotiations
between the Israelis and the Palestinians have focused on
land, water, Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and,
more recently, on the "separation wall" Israel is building, much
of it on land claimed by the Palestinians.
All of those issues are vitally important, and alas, largely
unresolved. But the matter of adequate energy supplies at
reasonable prices is also a key, yet often overlooked, element in
the peace equation.
The Palestinians have one of the fastest-growing populations
on Earth. The Israeli population is growing more slowly.
But the city’s economy, despite the ongoing violence in the
occupied territories, is growing at about 2.5 percent per year.
The combination of these factors means demand for all types
of energy is booming in both Palestine and Israel. As with
everything in the Holy Land, the politics of energy are complicated.
This article will focus on three points: the current state
of energy politics in the region, the ties between energy and
water and, finally, the problems posed by the separation wall.
Booming Demand in Israel and Palestine
Over the next 15 years, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry
of Energy and Natural Resources expects electricity demand
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to quadruple. Motor fuel and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand, which has been flat
for several years largely due to the Israeli occupation, is also
expected to rise. In Israel, natural gas demand is expected to
increase 14-fold over the next two decades. Electricity demand
will increase by 25 percent by 2010.
These energy demands mean that the Arabs and the Jews
must live together (however unhappily) in order to keep the
lights burning. Currently, Israeli companies supply all of
Palestine’s energy: motor fuel, LPG and electricity. But the
Palestinians are eager to break their dependence on Israel.
And given the right conditions, that could happen: The
Palestinians are, in aggregate, energy rich. For the past six
years, the Palestinian Authority has been sitting on a major
gas field that contains at least 1.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas.
drilled the wildcat Gaza Marine-1 off the coast of the Gaza
Strip, where they discovered the Gaza gas field. And sometime
this summer, BG will drill another well in Palestinian
territorial waters in an effort to find more gas. Determining
who gets the Palestinian gas, and at what price, will be a key
to the future of Palestine. But right now, the gas might as well
be fictional. "It’s their land and their water. The gas is worth
$4 billion," says Amit Mor, an Israeli energy consultant. "It’s
the only natural resource they have. They can’t sell it. They
can’t develop it for their own needs because their own needs
are too small to allow economic development of the field. So
they are very frustrated."
The Israelis are the cause of that frustration. In 2003,
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blocked a proposal that
would have allowed the Palestinians to sell their Gaza gas to
electric power plants in Israel. BG had proposed a pipeline
to carry the Gaza gas ashore, where most of it would be used
by the Israelis. The pipe would also have carried gas to the
Palestinians and meant $50 million per year in revenue to the
Palestinian Authority.
Dr. Omar Kittaneh, deputy minister of energy and natural
resources for the Palestinian Energy Authority, told me that
"like any country, we want to have energy independence."
But the Palestinians will never have energy independence
without statehood.
Adding to the frustration in the West Bank and Gaza is
the disparity in the levels of energy consumption between
Israel and Palestine. According to Nationmaster.com, which
publishes statistics on countries around the world, the Israelis
are the most imported-oil-dependent people in the world
(the Japanese rank second). They are also among the most
energy intensive, ranking number eight among the world’s
This power plant in Gaza, operational since March 2004, has the
capacity to
produce 140 megawatts of electricity. However, it produces only about
half
that amount due to lack of transportation infrastructure.
World Energy Monthly Review Vol. 1 No. 4 July 2005 11
economies in per capita oil consumption of 1.87 gallons, or
7 liters per day per person. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are
among the most energy impoverished. The average Israeli
consumes about 13 times more motor fuel and seven times
more electricity than the average Palestinian. The figures are
even worse in the Gaza Strip, where the average Peruvian
consumes more electricity than a Palestinian living in Gaza.
The energy consumption figures are reflective of the disparate
living standards between the two neighbors. The annual
per capita income in Israel is about $22,000. In Palestine, it’s
between $600 and $800.
While the Palestinians need more energy to raise their
standards of living, the Israelis are having remarkable success
in offshore drilling. About the same time that BG hit gas
in Gaza in 1999, Houston-based Noble Energy hit a big gas
deposit at the Mari-B field, located in Israeli territorial waters
about 20 kilometers west of Ashqelon. Noble sits on about
1.4 Tcf of gas and can deliver far more product than it can sell
into the Israeli market. Now selling about 160 million cubic
feet of gas per day (all of it for electricity production), Noble’s
An Energy Timeline
Oil has long been the key commodity in the
ongoing conflict between Israel and its neighbors.
It has also been the commodity that drives America’s
relationships in the Persian Gulf. Here are a few of the
key events in Israel’s energy history:
1935 An eight-inch pipeline from Kirkuk, Iraq, to Haifa
begins carrying crude. The cost of the $75 million pipeline, which
also had a terminal at Banias, Syria, was split among several partners
including the Iraq Petroleum Co., BP, Shell, Total, Exxon and Mobil.
C.S. Gulbenkian, the famous dealmaker, had a 5 percent interest.
1940 As World War II begins, the British fleet in the
Mediterranean Sea depends heavily on fuel from the Haifa refinery
while protecting the Egyptian coast from attack.
1948 The Kirkuk-to-Haifa pipeline is shut down by the Arab
states to protest the creation of the state of Israel.
1956 The Suez Crisis: The Arab oil-producing countries declare
an embargo, which failed because they didn’t control enough of
the world’s oil supplies.
1961 The Rothschild family provides financing for Israel’s first
major oil pipeline, from Eilat to Ashkelon, which carries crude oil
from Iran to Israel’s refinery in Haifa.
1967 Egypt blocks the Straits of Tiran, preventing Iranian oil
(provided by the Shah of Iran) from reaching Israel. Within a few
days of the blockade, Israel attacks Egypt. As the Six-Day War
continues, the Arab oil producers announce an embargo on oil
sales to Israel and the West, but they do not control the world oil
market and the embargo is ineffective.
1973 Israel and its Arab neighbors go to war again. Israel
whips them all, again. The Arab oil producers declare embargo,
again. But this time, an OPEC price hike and embargo cause
immediate spasms in the world oil market. Within months, the
price of oil quintuples.
1978 The Sinai oilfields, which Israel captured from Egypt in
the Six-Day War, are a key part of the Camp David peace accords.
In exchange for Israel’s agreement to return the oilfields to
Egypt, the United States promises to supply oil to Israel in case
of any embargoes or emergencies. Israel had been getting up
to one-fifth of its oil from the Sinai fields.
1999 Houston-based Noble Energy discovers gas in Israeli
territorial waters, a few miles offshore Ashqelon. At about the
same time, BG Group finds a gas field offshore Gaza.
2003 Shortly after America launches the Second Iraq War,
Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure begins analyzing the
cost of reviving the Kirkuk-to-Haifa pipeline. They estimate that a
1,000-kilometer, 42-inch pipe would cost about $1 billion.
2005 The Overseas Private Investment Corporation provides
political risk insurance for a $250 million marine pipeline that
will carry natural gas from Israel’s new offshore gas fields to
power plants onshore. Israel begins building hundreds of
kilometers of pipelines to distribute gas to power plants and
industrial facilities.
Dor
Jordan River
Nahr
Nah
Nahr al Litani
Me d i t e r r a n e a n S e a
Dead
Sea
Lake
Tiberias
1967
Cease - Fire
Line
GAZA STRIP
WEST BANK
LEBANON
I S R A E L
Tyre
Tiberias
Nablus
Hadera
Netanya
Ashdod
Ashqelon
Gaza
Rafah
Bethlehem
Hebron
As Safi
Oron
Dimona
Abu
'Ujaylah
Nahariyya
'Akko
Haifa
Tel-Aviv Yafo
Ramla
Jerusalem
Beersheba
Nazareth
Herzliyya
Mari-B
Gaza Marine 1
Israel
International Boundary
Armistice Line, 1949
District Boundary
National Capital
Major Cities
Current Pipelines
Proposed Pipelines
0
0 50 Miles
50 Km
World Energy M 12 onthly Review Vol. 1 No. 4 July 2005
CEO Charles Davidson says Israel differs from the normal
market: "Most of the time I’m worried about supply. In Israel,
the market is the challenge." But, he adds, "the infrastructure
is coming together."
Indeed, over the next decade or so, Israel will have a
booming pipeline construction business as the country extends
gas lines to industrial and electric power plants around the
country. This gas will help Israel reduce the amount of pollution
coming from its power plants. It will also help its balance
of trade by reducing the amount of oil and coal it imports. But
while the new gas supplies will provide big benefits to Israel’s
environment and economy, those benefits are unlikely to reach
the Palestinians.
Water and Energy
Israel and Palestine are dry lands. The Jordan River, a key
supplier of fresh water, is being tapped by Syria, Jordan and
Israel for drinking water. And those countries are leaving
no water in the river itself. The Dead Sea, which used to be
fed by the Jordan, is shrinking by three feet or more per year.
Both Israel and Palestine depend largely on aquifers for their
drinking-water supplies. Those resources are also diminishing.
The only option for the region is large-scale desalination, a
process requiring huge amounts of energy. According to Ishai
Menuchin, a researcher for Oxfam who works in Jerusalem, in
Israel "the issues of water and energy go hand in hand."
The desalination question is particularly critical for the
Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip. The territory, which
lies on the Mediterranean Coast, has been fought over for
decades and desperately needs more potable water. Providing
that water was one of the original goals of the only electric power
plant located on Palestinian land – the Palestinian Electric
Corporation’s Gaza City plant. Rated at 140 megawatts (MW),
the project was launched about six years ago in a partnership
that included the Palestinian Authority, a Greek firm called
CCC and Enron Corp. The project was jump-started by the
Clinton administration, which encouraged Enron to get involved
and also assured that some of the funding for the project
came from the federally backed Overseas Private Investment
Corporation, an export credit agency. The project was derailed
for many months due to the collapse of Enron and the violence
of the second Intifada. Finally, in March 2004 the plant, which
cost $100 million to build, began operating commercially.
A former Enron official who helped develop the Gaza power
plant says that one of the original aims of the plant was to
connect it to a desalination facility that could then provide
water to Gaza. Furthermore, says the former Enroner, a key
premise of the power plants was to "make it gas friendly."
Indeed, while the project terms were being negotiated, the
Gaza Marine-1 well hit gas. But today, nearly six years later,
the Palestinians still cannot bring that gas ashore to fuel the
power plant or to provide energy for a water desalination plant.
While Gaza remains stuck, the Israelis will soon begin
operating one of the world’s largest desalination plants. The
plant, located in Ashkelon, will have a capacity of 100 million
cubic meters (26.4 billion gallons) per year. The project, a
joint venture between French water giant Vivendi and Israeli
interests, includes a gas-fired power plant with 80 MW of
capacity.
But the power needed for the desalination projects is only
a fraction of the power Israel will need in the coming years.
Over the next five years, according to Jacob Karni, a professor
at the Weizmann Institute of Science, the country’s electric
power needs will increase by 25 percent to 12,500 MW of
installed capacity. An expert on solar energy, Karni is part
Key Energy Statistics for Israel and Palestine
Electricity consumption
• Israelis use 6,183 kWh/capita/year. That makes them
27th among world countries.
• Palestinians use 854 kWh/capita/year, making them
127th among world countries, right behind Egypt.
• In the Gaza Strip, electric consumption is just 654
kWh/capita/year, which makes that region 136th in
the world, behind Peru. (For comparison, the U.S. per
capita electric consumption is 12,406 kWh/year.)
Installed electric generation capacity
• Palestine: 140 MW* /3.92 million = 35 watts capacity
• Israel: 10,000 mw/6.1 million = 1,639 watts of generating
capacity per capita
*While the rated output of the Gaza Power Plant is 140 MW,
the plant is able to put out about only 70 MW due to a
lack of transmission infrastructure.
Motor fuel consumption
• Israelis use 12 million tons per year. Divided by 6.1
million people = 2,251.6 liters/capita/year
• Palestinians use 175.5 liters/capita/year
LPG consumption
• Israel: 86.8 kilograms/capita/year
• Palestine: 41.05
Natural gas reserves
• Israel: 1.5 Tcf
• Palestine: 1.4 Tcf.
Oil reserves
• Israel: 3.8 million barrels
• Palestine: nil
Sources: Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure, Palestinian
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Nationmaster.com,
Energy Information Administration
World Energy Monthly Review
World Energy Monthly Review Vol. 1 No. 4 July 2005 13
of a team involved in building a 100-MW solar plant in the
Negev Desert, in the southern region of Israel. Further, Karni
says that while the gas finds in the Mediterranean will help
Israel in the short term, they will provide only a fraction of the
gas needed. Thus, Israel will have to deal with gas-rich Egypt,
import LNG from the Persian Gulf or, possibly, build a pipeline
north that will carry gas from Russia. Further, it’s no secret
that the Israelis are also interested in Kurdish oil. As Karni
summed up: "Israel’s energy problems can’t be isolated from
the neighborhood. They are isolated from the Arab states, but
not the Palestinians."
The Wall
Walls are bad for pipelines. They are also bad for roads, traffic,
communications and, of course, power lines. Given those
facts, the effect of the separation wall now being constructed
by the Israeli government between Israel and Palestine is
obvious: Energy infrastructure costs in Palestine will increase
dramatically. Dr. Kittaneh said the separation wall, which
is nine meters high in places, will require the Israelis and
Palestinians to build taller towers to get power lines over the
concrete monoliths. "You have to have a special permit to
go over the separation wall. And it’s more expensive because
the safety distance has to be higher," said Dr. Kittaneh.
Despite the costs, the Israeli government is building
some 600 kilometers of fences and walls. (About half of
that distance has already been built.) And the political and
religious barriers that have prevented peace in the region
for centuries will be supplemented by a concrete-and-steel
curtain that varies from 6 meters to 9 meters in height and in
thickness from a few millimeters of steel mesh to more than a
foot of slabbed concrete and steel.
The wall imposes, in effect, a major tax on commerce in
Palestine. It will also restrict the ability of the Palestinians to
get enough electricity and motor fuel to keep their economy
going. But, as usual, energy issues are getting short shrift in
the broader discussion of peace and development in the region.
This is particularly true in Gaza, now largely encircled by
the wall.
Mahmoud El Kozendar’s family operates a number of service
stations in Gaza, which has one of the highest population
densities of any region on Earth. Kozendar says the key issues
for the Palestinians in Gaza are energy availability and energy
pricing. Residents of Gaza now pay about 10 times more for
LPG than residents of Egypt, he told me. Further, Gazans must
pay market prices for electricity (about 9 cents per kilowatt
hour) even though the average Palestinian makes a fraction of
the amount earned by the average Israeli. In addition to the
cost, "There is always a shortage of electricity," Kozendar said.
"And without electricity, we can’t have industry."
Without industry, Gaza and the rest of Palestine will not
be able to create jobs. Without jobs, the region will continue
to be impoverished. And if there is one thing that has proven
true during the decades of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is
that poverty breeds violence. Alas, unless or until the energy
questions are addressed in the Holy Land, it appears the
cycle of poverty and violence will continue. And that means
continued conflict not only for Israel, but for America as well.
Key Companies
Palestinian Electric Corporation
• 2003 revenues: $22.3 million
• Market capitalization: $134.4 million
• Its first and only generator, a 140-megawatt
power plant, began commercial operation on
March 15, 2004. Its stock began trading on the
Palestinian Securities Exchange on March 28, 2004
at a price of $1 per share. The stock now trades at
about $2.24.
Alon Israel Oil Company
• 2004 revenues: $3.32 billion
• Market capitalization: n/a
• The Alon conglomerate owns supermarkets, fast-food
outlets and a wide range of midstream and downstream
energy assets. It is the biggest fuel retailer
in Israel. It also has substantial operations in the
United States, including the Fina gas station chain
and a refinery in Big Spring, Texas. The privately held
company’s most famous shareholder is diamond
mogul Lev Leviev, who owns about 26 percent of
Alon through his company, Africa-Israel Investments.
An Alon subsidiary, Dor Energy, has the sole source
contract for delivery of motor fuel and LPG into
Palestine. The terms of the contract are not public.
The separation wall just south of the city of Ramallah near the
Qalandiya checkpoint. The wall, sections of which are nine meters
high, will make the construction of new energy infrastructure
(pipelines, power lines, etc.) more difficult and more expensive.
PLEASE NOTE, PHOTO ARE ALSO INCLUDED IN THE PDF DOCUMENT:
http://www.epalestine.com/PalestineEnergy.pdf
On Jan 8, 10:54 pm, Peace Power <deadsoldiersno...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 8, 10:38 pm, Peace Power <deadsoldiersno...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> JANUARY 7, 2009 8:19 PM
>
> Anonymous said...
> My son is employed here in Texas building equipment needed to fracture
> natural gas wells. About 3 months ago he told me his employer had a
> contract build fracturing equipment for Israel. I would say this awful
> situation in Gaza has something to do with the "Gaza Marine Field
> containing 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas". Source:http://www.oilandgasinvestingglossary.com/palestines_natural_gas_trou...
>
> http://yayacanada.blogspot.com/2009/01/jewish-women-occupy-israeli-co...
> ...
>
> read more »
Al Nakba
> On Jan 8, 10:38 pm, Peace Power <deadsoldiersno...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> JANUARY 7, 2009 8:19 PM
>
> Anonymous said...
> My son is employed here in Texas building equipment needed to fracture
> natural gas wells. About 3 months ago he told me his employer had a
> contract build fracturing equipment for Israel. I would say this awful
> situation in Gaza has something to do with the "Gaza Marine Field
>
> http://yayacanada.blogspot.com/2009/01/jewish-women-occupy-israeli-co...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Any masjid there could produce such gaseous volume..
Lazarus Cain
> On Jan 8, 10:38 pm, Peace Power <deadsoldiersno...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> JANUARY 7, 2009 8:19 PM
>
> Anonymous said...
> My son is employed here in Texas building equipment needed to fracture
> natural gas wells. About 3 months ago he told me his employer had a
> contract build fracturing equipment for Israel. I would say this awful
> situation in Gaza has something to do with the "Gaza Marine Field
>
> http://yayacanada.blogspot.com/2009/01/jewish-women-occupy-israeli-co...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
The Idku facility can support up to six trains
Standoff threatens new Egyptian LNG project
CAIRO: Israeli authorities have held up the development of an offshore
natural gas field in Palestinian territory by not responding to a
routine request for a survey from the field's operator, British Gas
(BG).
The delay is the latest development in a five-year saga of the field
known as Gaza Marine, which was discovered off the coast of Gaza in
2000 and is estimated to contain approximately 1 trillion cubic feet
of gas."
Interesting side note
A lot of balls on the part of Mr Bush's s Texas friends and an oil/gas
and deal with Israel.