Editing Trans-Israel pipeline (section)

==History==

Following the [[Suez crisis]], the Israeli government started the country's first crude oil pipeline between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea with a 24,000 bbl/day 8-inch pipe line from Eilat to Beersheba. Initially augmented by truck and rail transport to the Mediterranean coast and to Israel's only and underutilized [[Oil Refineries Ltd|refinery at Haifa]], the link to the coast was completed in 1957 with a 16-inch line from Beersheba to Ashdod. Tankers were then carrying crude oil to Haifa. The final leg, a 90-mile 16-inch pipe line from Ashdod to Haifa along the coast was completed in July 1958.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=The Oil and Gas Journal |volume=56 |issue=29 |date=21 July 1958 |title=Israel Completes Line |page=69 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_oil-gas-journal_1958-07-21_56_29/page/69/mode/1up}}</ref> An expansion of capacity of the 125 mile section from the Red Sea to Beersheba was initiated in February 1960, raising the overall capacity of the system from 30,000 bbl/day to 100,000 bbl/day. The expansion coincided with the beginning of production for export at Haifa, which had been lacking a sufficient supply of crude oil since 1948 and was producing only for the local market.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=The Oil and Gas Journal |volume=58 |issue=6 |date=8 February 1960 |title=Refinery Closing Big Export Deal |page=77 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_oil-gas-journal_1960-02-08_58_6/page/77/mode/1up}}</ref>

The large diameter pipeline was built in 1968 as a 50/50% joint-venture between Israel and Iran. However, Iran ceased using the pipeline after the overthrow of Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] in the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the subsequent severing of relations between the two countries.

In 2003, Israel and [[Russia]] made an agreement to supply Asian markets with Russian oil delivered by tankers from [[Novorossiysk]] to [[Ashkelon]] and then reloaded onto tankers in Eilat for shipment to Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/russian-oil-transit-israel-trans-israel-pipeline-reborn|title=Russian Oil to Transit Israel: The Trans-Israel Pipeline is Reborn|work=Washington Institute|date=November 17, 2003|access-date=March 1, 2016}}</ref> The oil would therefore flow in the opposite direction to that intended originally. This route from Europe to Asia is shorter than the traditional one around [[Africa]] and cheaper than the one via the [[Suez Canal]].

In December 2014, a breach near the southern end of the pipeline led to [[2014 Israeli oil spill|a massive oil spill]]<ref name="TP14">{{cite web|url=http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/04/3599861/israel-oil-spill/|title=PHOTOS: Israel Hit With Massive 600,000 Gallon Oil Spill|work=Think Progress|date=December 12, 2014|access-date=December 5, 2014}}</ref> into the [[Evrona Nature Reserve]].

In September 2020, a preliminary agreement was reached to transport [[United Arab Emirates|Emirati]] oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through the pipeline.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-israel-pipeline/israeli-pipeline-company-signs-deal-to-bring-uae-oil-to-europe-idUSKBN275155|title=Israeli pipeline company signs deal to bring UAE oil to Europe|work=Reuters|date=October 20, 2020|access-date=October 21, 2020}}</ref>

In May 2021, a storage tank in the Ashkelon depot of the pipeline was damaged by a rocket fired from Gaza in the [[2021 Israel–Palestine crisis]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schreirber|first=Sholom|date=2021-05-11|title=Trans-Israel pipeline Hit By Rocket From Gaza|url=https://thejewishvoice.com/2021/05/trans-israel-pipeline-hit-by-rocket-from-gaza/|access-date=2021-05-12|website=The Jewish Voice|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Legal claim by Iran===
Following the seizure of the pipeline in 1979, Iran pursued a claim for compensation against Israel. On 27 June 2016, the Swiss Federal Tribunal decided the case in Iran's favor with an award of $1.1 billion plus interest.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Daiss|first1=Tim|title=Israel Loses Secretive Oil Pipeline Case To Iran, Ordered To Pay $1.1 Billion Plus Interest|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/08/15/israel-loses-secretive-oil-pipeline-case-to-iran-ordered-to-pay-1-1-billion-plus-interest/#79c35b216024|work=Forbes|date=August 15, 2016|accessdate=August 16, 2016}}</ref>