At today's Meda Conferences' 5th Annual Conference, Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz commented on the effects of natural gas on international relations, saying, "The gas was a key factor in the reconciliation and normalization process with Turkey. The Turks saw we were serious, and had a real export option. During the visit by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, we discussed the question of energy. Several months ago, there was a summit attended by Israel, Cyprus, and Greece, including their foreign ministers, and energy was also a catalyst in the formation of this tripartite axis."
Steinitz referred to the sale of the Karish and Tanin gas reservoirs, and warned the gas companies against relying on a 60-day extension for selling them. He said, "I want to send a warning to the gas companies. According to the gas plan, we allocated 14 months for the sale of these reservoirs. Seven months have passed. I suggest that the companies hurry. We are not dictating the sale terms. It is not a good idea to wait until the last minute, nor is there any guarantee that we will agree to a 60-day extension."
Steinitz also leveled accusations against all the parties involved in implementation of the gas plan, saying, "We didn't develop the Leviathan reservoir for six years. The regulators were frightened by all the commotion, and were intimidated by populism. They reversed their decisions. 12 regulators were incapable of making decisions. These six years caused damage in the tens of billions- some say 100 billion. We lost economically and we lost environmentally."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 14, 2016
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