- The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility
of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came
in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign
Ministry official in Jerusalem.
-
- The Prime Minister's Office, which views the pipeline
to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return
for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had
asked the Americans for the official telegram.
-
- The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area,
where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul,
and then across Jordan to Israel. The U.S. telegram included a request
for a cost estimate for repairing the Mosul-Haifa pipeline that was in
use prior to 1948. During the War of Independence, the Iraqis stopped the
flow of oil to Haifa and the pipeline fell into disrepair over the years.
-
- The National Infrastructure Ministry has recently conducted
research indicating that construction of a 42-inch diameter pipeline between
Kirkuk and Haifa would cost about $400,000 per kilometer. The old Mosul-Haifa
pipeline was only 8 inches in diameter.
-
- National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky said
yesterday that the port of Haifa is an attractive destination for Iraqi
oil and that he plans to discuss this matter with the U.S. secretary of
energy during his planned visit to Washington next month. Paritzky added
that the plan depends on Jordan's consent and that Jordan would receive
a transit fee for allowing the oil to piped through its territory. The
minister noted, however, that "due to pan-Arab concerns, it will be
hard for the Jordanians to agree to the flow of Iraqi oil via Jordan and
Israel."
-
- Sources in Jerusalem confirmed yesterday that the Americans
are looking into the possibility of laying a new pipeline via Jordan and
Israel. (There is also a pipeline running via Syria that has not been used
in some three decades.)
-
- Iraqi oil is now being transported via Turkey to a small
Mediterranean port near the Syrian border. The transit fee collected by
Turkey is an important source of revenue for the country. This line has
been damaged by sabotage twice in recent weeks and is presently out of
service.
-
- In response to rumors about the possible Kirkuk-Mosul-Haifa
pipeline, Turkey has warned Israel that it would regard this development
as a serious blow to Turkish-Israeli relations.
-
- Sources in Jerusalem suggest that the American hints
about the alternative pipeline are part of an attempt to apply pressure
on Turkey.
-
- Iraq is one of the world's largest oil producers, with
the potential of reaching about 2.5 million barrels a day. Oil exports
were halted after the Gulf War in 1991 and then were allowed again on a
limited basis (1.5 million barrels per day) to finance the import of food
and medicines. Iraq is currently exporting several hundred thousand barrels
of oil per day.
-
- During his visit to Washington in about two weeks, Paritzky
also plans to discuss the possibility of U.S. and international assistance
for joint Israeli-Palestinian projects in the areas of energy and infrastructure,
natural gas, desalination and electricity.
-
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=332835&contrass
ID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
|