Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Photo: Yaron Brener
Israel wants to buy Russian gas, minister says
National Infrastructure Minister Ben Eliezer announces plans to buy up to 5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year, to be transferred via pipeline through Turkey
Israel wants to buy 2 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year that could be delivered through a pipeline extended from Turkey, an Israeli minister was reported as saying Thursday by a Russian news agency.
"Israel plans to buy 2 billion cubic meters of Russia's gas," National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said, according to ITAR-Tass.
The minister, who was to hold talks Thursday in Moscow with the head of state Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, added that Israel in the long-term could import up to 5 billion cubic meters a year from Russia.
Ankara announced last month that it and Moscow had agreed to hold talks on extending a pipeline already carrying Russian natural gas to Turkey to deliver supplies to Israel as part of a project to build a network of pipelines to ship oil, natural gas and water from Turkey to Israel.
Michael Brodsky, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Moscow, said it would take at least five years to complete the gas pipeline extension and start Russian gas deliveries to his country.
