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| Israel-Palestine |
| Israel considers buying natural gas from Gaza |
| 2005-02-14 |
| Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer agreed in a meeting last Wednesday to investigate the possibility of purchasing Palestinian natural gas from offshore drilling performed by British Gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip. In exchange, Israel would provide electricity and water to Palestinians, something Israel provides in any case. British Gas, which owns the rights to natural gas reserves near Gaza, is asking to sell natural gas in Israel at a value of $3.5 billion. If there is an agreement between Israel and British Gas to buy the Palestinian gas, the company will lay a pipeline from the drilling sites to the Ashkelon coast. The infrastructure minister said at the meeting that the thawing of relations with the Palestinians, as well as progress since last week's summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, allows the government to reconsider its decision not to buy gas from Gaza. It appears that Sharon has not rejected the proposal out of hand. An Infrastructure Ministry spokesperson said that Ben-Eliezer's proposal had indeed been discussed at the meeting last week. The Prime Minister's Office was not available for comment. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 Those guys are always more reasonable when they're dead or in jail. I hope Abbas's strategy is to ensure Israeli support in achieving that end. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2005-02-14 11:02:20 AM |
| #1 Hamas and Hizb'Allah will consider the gas infrastructure a target if Israel has anything to do with it. Of course, if Abbas could reason with them, everything may be ok... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-02-14 10:58:33 AM |