AssA-Irada: Middle Easts largest energy project signed.

Azerbaijan will gain an opportunity to transport its oil to the Middle East through Israel and further to the Indian and Chinese markets. The Middle Easts largest energy project that envisions building a pipeline under the Mediterranean Sea carrying Caspian oil and natural gas, or Medstream, will become possible through a historic deal reached by Turkey and Israel. Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer endorsed the project in Ankara Thursday. The project is moving fast, Guler told reporters after hosting Ben-Eliezer. Turkey and Israel have long been considering building a multipurpose pipeline to carry oil and natural gas from Caspian states and Russia, water and electricity from Turkey to Israel. The project is of great importance for Azerbaijan given that Israel is one of the largest importers of its crude.

Azeri oil currently flows to Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which could be extended to Israel. If materialized, the new project will allow to transport oil from the South Caucasus republic purchased at Ceyhan to Israel's Askhelon port not by tankers but through a pipeline, which is cheaper and faster. The Israeli minister discussed details of the project with Azerbaijani officials during his visit to Baku several months ago. The pipeline will strengthen the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel economic triangle. The conduit to link Ceyhan with the Red Sea is to pump 40 million tons of oil annually. Natural gas pipes are to be built in parallel to the pipeline as well. According to Guler, the feasibility report will be ready in 10 months and its estimated cost will be about 8 million euros. We are now trying to set up the budget. We are planning to complete the project three years after the finalization of the feasibility studies, he said. The prospects of the project are immense in terms of saving costs and time for oil transportation, which is carried out by tankers for the most part. Carrying oil to India, Taiwan and the Far East using the current destination of Gibraltar and Cape of Good Hope takes 39-49 days. The Medstream will allow to reduce the timeframe to 19 days. Ben-Eliezer said all the parties involved were seeking a speedy implementation of the project. Guler replied that a trilateral meeting between Turkish, Israeli and Indian energy ministers will take place within weeks. Ben-Eliezer also said his country was close to an agreement with Russia that would secure natural gas for Medstream. We are very close to reaching an agreement with Russia that would supply the pipeline with natural gas, Ben-Eliezer told the press. I have visited both Azerbaijan and Russia in order to seek resources for the project. We are very close to signing an agreement with Russia, one is a memorandum of understanding and the other is commercial, he said. Turkey is purchasing natural gas from Russia via a pipeline that runs underneath the Black Sea. Russia was cold to Turkey's pressures to prefer Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline to bypass the Turkish Straits. Ben-Eliezer added that as the agreements were finalized Israeli and Russian companies would begin the process.