Posted on 06/14/22
| News Source: i24
Israel is estimated to have gas reserves of at least one trillion cubic meters
The European Union wants to strengthen its energy cooperation with Israel in light of Russia's use of gas supplies to "blackmail" its members over the Ukraine conflict, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
"The Kremlin has used our dependency on Russian fossil fuels to blackmail us," she said in a speech at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in southern Israel.
Moscow's conduct "only strengthens our resolve to break free of our dependence on Russian fossil fuels," she said, noting the EU was "exploring ways to step up our energy cooperation with Israel," with work on an underwater power cable and a gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean.
Israel exports gas to Egypt, some of which is then liquefied and shipped to Europe. A significant increase in gas exports would require major long-term infrastructure investments.
Another option would be the EastMed project, a proposal for a seafloor pipeline linking Israel with Cyprus and Greece. But US President Joe Biden's administration questioned the viability of the project, given its huge cost and the time it would take to complete.
Yet another proposal is a pipeline connecting Israel to Turkey, which would cost $1.5 billion and take two to three years to complete, according to estimates.