A pipeline built for Iran may turn Israel into a major crude oil transportation hub

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Following the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, it is possible the UAE will make use of a crude oil pipeline originally built by Israel and pre-revolution Iran – and turn Israel into a major center for the transport of oil between regions, 246 Mag reports. In using the pipeline, the UAE could bypass transporting oil through the Suez Canal and save a great deal of money on shipping costs.

The Eilat-Ashkelon-Haifa oil pipeline was built in 1959, following the Suez Crisis of 1956. The pipeline was predominantly used to ship Iranian crude oil from Shah-era Iran to Europe, avoiding the Egypt-controlled Suez Canal. The transfer of oil from Iran to Europe through Israel was terminated after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, 246 Mag reports.

Fully owned by Israel, the pipeline is still in use operated under its new company name: the Europe Asia Pipeline Co. “Parts of [the pipeline] are bidirectional and oil from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is being sent to tankers in Eilat for transport to China, South Korea and other Asian countries,” 246 Mag explains.

According to 246 Mag, Gulf countries like the UAE could greatly benefit from using the pipeline: “Supertankers that can dock in Israeli ports have a capacity of double the size of oil tankers that can fit through the Canal, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per shipment to Europe and North America.” Doing this is currently very difficult because of an Arab boycott on publically transporting oil through Israel: current users of the pipeline have to keep a very low profile and EAPAC’s financial records are a military secret, 246 Mag said.

Now, as the UAE has ended its boycott of Israel, there are billions of dollars’ worth of business reportedly to be made through sending oil through Israel to Europe – potentially turning Israel into a major crude oil transportation center.

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