Expert says Israel’s export costs to Far East will be much higher than competitors for all-important market, and suggests the LNG be used mainly for Israel’s domestic needs.
By Haaretz
The national consensus holds that the discoveries of huge offshore natural gas fields in recent years amount to an economic revolution, one that will put the economy on easy street for generations to come. A leading British energy expert, however, says it’s an illusion.
Drilling at the Leviathan natural gas field off the Mediterranean shore. – Photo: Courtesy Albatross
“Exporting gas as LNG [liquefied natural gas] is very expensive. Israeli gas isn’t competitive enough to compete with LNG from other countries,” says Nick Butler, one-time senior energy adviser to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and former vice president for strategy and policy development at British Petroleum Group, in an interview with Globes’ Hedy Cohen.
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