21 Oct 2020; MEMO: Israeli pipeline company EAPC announced on Tuesday that it had signed a preliminary deal with Med-Red company, owned by Israelis and Emiratis, to transport oil from the UAE to Europe, Anadolu reported.
The two companies are planning to transport oil via a pipeline that connects the Red Sea city of Eilat and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon.
According to Globes, the Israeli economic magazine, the agreement was signed in the presence of US Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, the UAE Minister of Financial Affairs Obaid bin Humaid Al-Tayer and other officials and businessmen.
Globes reported that the plan is based on the use of EAPC’s existing infrastructure for conveying oil and distillates from Eilat to Ashkelon and would save the expense and time of shipping oil from the Gulf and through the Suez Canal.
EAPC said that the cooperation is good news for the global energy market because it provides the oil producers and manufacturers with a shorter, more efficient, and cost-saving route for the conveyance of oil and its products.
It also said that this cooperation would bring the markets of East Asia closer to the oil producers in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
“This is a historic agreement that will increase cooperation between EAPC and regional and international players,” Globes reported EAPC chairman Erez Kalfon saying.
He added: “This agreement undoubtedly has great importance for the Israeli economy both economically and strategically and it involves long-term joint investments.”
Globes noted that there will be options to bring the oil by tanker to Eilat Port or to build a pipeline from the UAE across Saudi Arabia to Israel.
