The battle over the Sheshinki committee's recommendations is intensifying, with the withdrawal of two of its six members. Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Shaul Tzemach and Petroleum Supervisor Dr. Yaakov Mimran have suspended themselves from the committee until a solution is found for the development of the Tamar natural gas field.
Tzemach and Mimran notified committee chairman Prof. Eytan Sheshinksi that, after the committee rejected their request for an urgent meeting to discuss Tamar, "We have no choice but to draw the necessary conclusions about our continued presence on the committee."
Sources in the committee told "Globes" that in the wake of their letter, two meetings - one by the subcommittee on Tamar, and other by the full committee - will be scheduled for Thursday and Sunday to discuss the development and financing of Tamar.
Sources in the Ministry of National Infrastructures told "Globes" that if a solution to Tamar is found by next week, the crisis would be solved. The sources said that Tzemach and Mimran decided to send the letter at their own initiative, after Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) announced that it will buy natural gas from Egypt's East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), instead of from the Tamar field. "This was the shock that led them to realize that the basic assumptions of the committee did not necessarily fit reality," said a source.
The sources added that other members of the Sheshinski committee told Tzemach and Mimran that Israel Corp. would not sign with EMG. "Just as this assessment was proven wrong, other assessments could also turn out to be wrong. The ministry responsible for Israel's energy security cannot allow itself such mistakes."
In their letter, Tzemach and Mimran said, "Beginning in 2013, the Mary B gas field will begin to diminish and there is a real risk that it will not be able… to meet the energy needs of the Israeli economy. Therefore, if the Tamar field does not begin production by 2013, the national energy market is liable to face a failure whose severity cannot be underestimated."
A source at the National Infrastructures Ministry said, "The critical issue is how to guarantee that the gas will begin to flow in 2013, and there was no discussion on this point. The committee members from the ministry are not throwing tantrums, but this is tantamount to a yellow warning card that we're going to miss something important, and that no can then claim in retrospect, 'We didn’t know'."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 15, 2010
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