Israel heads for pipelines instead of LNG hub

Investment plans scrapped and domestic opposition to a land based hub means Israel will focus on a regional pipeline network

The prospects for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub in the eastern Mediterranean are now dim. Instead, Israel looks likely to emerge at the centre of a regional pipeline network, using its abundant offshore gas reserves to build strategic and economic ties with its neighbours that were unthinkable just three years ago. Woodside Petroleum's decision in May to scrap plans to buy a stake in the Noble Energy-led consortium developing the 540 billion cubic metres (cm) Leviathan field has killed -- for now -- the idea of an Israeli LNG export business. Opposition within the country to a land-based plant meant a floating facility was the only viable option. Woodside's LNG capital and expertise,