According to Israeli infrastructure minister, Yosef Paritzky, “British Gas will be permitted, as a third supplier, to negotiate with any commercial interests including private electricity companies, industrial enterprises and government companies.”
Paritzky, who has consistently supported the idea of gas from the reservoir found by the British company off the Gaza coast, believes Israel needs diversity in its gas supply and should not be dependent from one major source.
According to Paritzky, “Since the quantity of gas from local sources and from BG would amount to some 80 billion cubic metres, while the demand would probably reach 180 billion cubic metres by 2025, Israel had to ensure that it would not be totally dependent on Egyptian gas in the future.”
The Israeli Electric Corp directorate is to meet soon to decide whether or not it will purchase 25.5 billion cubic metres of Egyptian gas from EMG over 15 years.
