IEC may not use its Ashdod terminal for the import of chemicals for other companies.
The Ministry of the Environment is examining suspicions that Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) allowed Paz Oil Company Ltd. (TASE:PZOL) to use its NTV1 chemical terminal in Ashdod for imports. If the suspicions are substantiated, it means that IEC used the terminal for illegal purposes, since it may only be used for fuel, and may not be used to import chemicals for other companies.
If the terminal was used for such imports, the Ministry of the Environment might sue both IEC and Paz, and even withdraw the terminal’s toxic permit. IEC has used the sea pier at the Ashdod Port for years as a terminal for the import of fuel for its Ashdod power station. IEC stopped these imports when the power station was converted to natural gas, keeping the pier only for emergencies. The pier has two terminals: one for crude oil, which can handle ships up to 50,000 cubic meters in volume; and the second for the import of distillates from tankers of up to 40,000 cubic meters in volume.
If Paz used the terminals, it saved considerable money. If it had imported fuels through the Haifa Port, it would have had to transfer the materials by tanker to the Paz Ashdod Refinery.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 22, 2007
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