The international maritime weekly “Fairplay Magazine and News” has revealed an Israeli-Turkish plan to pipe crude oil from the Caspian Sea to Eilat, by way of a pipeline in Turkey and the Eilat-Ashkelon oil pipeline. The 254-km pipeline belongs to the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. (EAPC), owned in equal shares by Israel and the Iranian government.
The weekly says the oil pipeline, designed to reduce the dependence on the oil-producing Persian Gulf countries, is planned to pass through Turkish territory. EAPC plans to change the direction of the flow in its pipeline. In Turkey, the oil will be loaded on tankers, which will bring it to Ashkelon, and it will be piped from there to Eilat. In Eilat, the oil will be reloaded onto tankers, and shipped eastward.
The Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline was constructed in the 1960s, when Israel had diplomatic relations with Iran, in order to bypass the Suez Canal. The oil flowed from the Persian Gulf to Europe through Eilat and Ashkelon, but the direction will now be reversed. The Turkish pipeline is planned to transport one million barrels of oil a day from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
For the sake of comparison, Iraq, one of the world’s largest oil producers, transports 1.5 million barrels of oil a day.
According to the weekly, the Turkish pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2005, and work to change the direction of flow in the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline will begin this summer. The oil route is intended to transport mostly oil produced in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
An Israel Institute of Petroleum and Energy expert said the pipeline is currently used to transport Egyptian oil to the north, and works far below full capacity. He added that those planning the venture hope the pipelines in Israel and Turkey will reduce the West’s dependence on oil from Saudi Arabia and the other Persian Gulf countries.
“Fairplay Magazine and News” noted that the new plan involved a security risk, illustrated by the attack on the oil tanker in Yemen. The weekly added that the oil to flow through the pipelines would later lead to production of oil tankers able to withstand terrorist attacks.
A “Globes” investigation into EAPC showed that foreign concerns, including a Portuguese bank and a Russian investor, are interested in acquiring the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, or ownership of EAPC. They wish to exploit EAPC’s relative advantages in transporting oil, while bypassing the Suez Canal and the Persian Gulf countries.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 23, 2002