Dozens of IDF road tankers are being set aside under emergency procedures to transport diesel fuel from the oil refineries to private power plants, due to the halt of the flow of natural gas from the Tamar reservoir. Sources inform "Globes" that the IDF has been using dozens of road tankers today, and a number of other tankers were leased from Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) and Paz Oil Company Ltd. (TASE:PZOL). It is still unclear how much the lease of the tankers will cost, but it appears that consumers of electricity will eventually bear the cost.
The use of the tankers could have been avoided had the state implemented the existing plan for connecting the power plants to the national diesel fuel pipeline. A State Comptroller's report published in 2016 stated, "Rapid deployment of fuel lines as a backup for the natural gas system is of supreme importance," and called on the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources and the Public Utilities Authority (electricity) to push the project forward.
In the absence of a connection to the national gas pipeline, the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources is merely requiring the private power station operators to establish operating diesel fuel stores near the plants with enough diesel fuel to operate for 100 hours. Energy sector sources told "Globes" that the solution for the supply of diesel fuel highlights the failures in managing the energy sector: "What would have happened had there been a war now, and the IDF had been unable to send tankers to supply fuel to operate the private power stations?"
The Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources said, "The economy requires the transportation of larger quantities of diesel fuel for various consumers. The ministry has asked for help in allocating tankers from the Ministry of Defense, which is cooperating in the matter."
While the IDF is transporting diesel fuel, the oil refineries report that they will be able to supply all of the demand by themselves, and that there would be no need to import diesel fuel or open the emergency stores.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on September 24, 2017
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