Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company Ltd. (EAPC) has submitted a bid in a Cypriot tender to build and operate a fuel terminal, the company's first foreign venture. The terminal is part of strategic energy project under construction between Larnaca and Limossol at Vassilikos on Cyprus's southern coast.
EAPC said in response, "The company is examining the matter, just as it examines every possible project. No decision has been taken on the Cypriot project at this time."
EAPC operates Israel's main fuel terminal at Ashkelon, which receives most of Israel's crude oil, and the pipelines to carry the oil to the refineries in Ashdod and Haifa. The company also owns fuel farms in Ashkelon, Eilat, and other locations, which hold most of Israel's strategic reserves. Its main asset is the 254-kilometer crude and refined oil pipeline between Eilat and Ashkelon.
Cyprus is drawing the attention of Israel's energy and natural gas exploration companies, in response to the Cypriot government's ambitious plan to turn the island into a fuel center for the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. The plan includes a fuel terminal, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) terminal, and natural gas-based petrochemicals industry at Vassilikos.
The fuel terminal is due to be built in 2012, and the LNG facility in 2013. Both projects are joint ventures with the Electricity Authority of Cyprus.
In view of these plans, it was recently reported that Dor Chemicals Ltd. is considering building a $2 billion methanol gas plant in Cyprus, instead of Israel.