Hidden energy crisis in the Middle EastBy Victor Kotsev
TEL AVIV - While most of the world is preoccupied with the impact of instability in the Middle East on oil prices and the world economy, a different kind of energy crisis is unfolding practically unnoticed. An ongoing reshuffle in natural gas supplies has left at least two countries - Israel and Jordan - without much of the gas they need.
In general, the politics of Middle Eastern gas will probably be just as dramatically affected by the upheaval as those of oil, but will follow a separate trajectory. Their effect will, at least initially, be more local in nature, and will vary for each country. However, the energy status quo in the region is slated to change dramatically.
On February 5, at the height of the uprising against then-president Hosni Mubarak, a massive explosion rocked a gas terminal near the Egyptian town of El-Arish. The head of the Egyptian natural gas company, Magdy Toufik, blamed it on ''a small amount of gas leaking',' but it soon emerged that the most likely cause was an act of terror - in some accounts, two separate terrorist attacks. According to reports in the Associated Press, ''The terminal's guards testified that
stormed the terminal in two cars, briefly restrained the guards and then set off the explosives by remote control.''
The terminal lay on the Arab gas pipeline carrying Egyptian gas to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and even Turkey. The section that branches off of that pipeline into Israel was not affected, but Egypt shut off gas supplies to the Jewish state as well. Egyptian authorities claimed that the system needed ''to cool off',' and that they would resume supplies within a week or so. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MC12Ak02.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
