The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company ( he, חברת קו צינור אילת אשקלון בע"מ (קצא”א), also known as the Europe Asia Pipeline Company and by the acronym EAPC) operates several

crude petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

and refined petroleum products pipelines in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, most notably the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline – which transports crude oil across southern Israel, between the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The EAPC also operates two maritime

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obt ...

s as well as oil storage depots in the country. The company was originally formed in 1968 as a 50/50% joint venture between Israel and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(during the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

's rule) to transport crude oil shipped from Iran to Europe. However, Israel nationalized the company following the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

and the subsequent severing of relations between the two countries. In 2015, a Swiss court ordered Israel to pay Iran $1.1 billion in compensation for this, which it refused to do, arguing that this was prohibited by its

Trading with the Enemy Act Trading with the Enemy Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and the United States relating to trading with the enemy. ''Trading with the Enemy Acts'' is also a generic name for a class of legislation generally pas ...

. The services of the EAPC are: transporting crude oil and refined products, long term storage, crude oil blending, processing of

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

, distillates and gas. Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company is one of Israel's most secretive companies. According to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', "EAPC has operated since its founding under a blanket state decree that shrouds its affairs in secrecy. Israel says the decree was issued for reasons relating to national security."

History

*1956: "Afike Neft" (Crude Oil Channel) founded to transport crude oil from Sinai to Haifa *1957: construction of 3 oil tanks in Eilat, 20 cm (8") Ø pipeline from Eilat to Beer-Sheva, 3 oil tanks in Beer-Sheva, trains transport crude oil to Haifa, later construction of a 40 cm (16") Ø pipeline from Beer-Sheva to Ashdod and transportation by ship to Haifa *1959: construction of a 40 cm (16") Ø pipeline from

Eilat Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...

to Haifa *1966: construction of the storage facility

Ramat Yotam , wiktionary:בית, :he:בית, house * * * * E , wiktionary:עין, spring, fountain * * , wiktionary:עמק, :he:עמק, valley * G , wiktionary:גן, :he:גן, "garden" * , wiktionary:גבעה, :he:גבעה, ...

, Eilat; Jetty 1; booster station in

Paran Paran (also Pharan or Faran) may refer to: Places * Paran, Egypt, an ancient site at the oasis of the Sinai's Wadi Feiran *Desert of Paran, a location mentioned in the Hebrew Bible *Paran, East Azerbaijan, a village in Iran *Paran, Isfahan, a city ...

*1968: EAPC established, construction of a 106 cm (42") Ø pipeline from Eilat to Ashkelon, terminal and port in Ashkelon *1973: storage in Eilat expanded to 1.1 Mio. m³, in

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...

to 1.3 Mio. m³, additional booster station in Yotvata, 45 cm (18") Ø pipeline from Ashkelon to Ashdod *1996: construction of a sea and land terminal for fuel oil in Ashkelon *1998: construction of a modern

LPG terminal A liquefied natural gas terminal is a facility for managing the import and/or export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It comprises equipment for loading and unloading of LNG cargo to/from ocean-going tankers, for transfer across the site, liquefac ...

*1999: joint venture EAPC and Petroleum & Energy Infrastructures Ltd. (PEI), distillates unloaded in Ashkelon und distributed/pumped by PEI *2000: marine services in Ashkelon moved to the

Israel Electric Company Israel Electric Corporation ( he, חברת החשמל לישראל, abbreviation: IEC) is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub ...

's (IEC)

Rutenberg Power Station The Rutenberg Power Station is a coal-fired power plant situated on the Mediterranean coast in Ashkelon, Israel. Description The Rutenberg power station, named for Pinhas Rutenberg, is owned and operated by the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). ...

's coal jetty *2002: conversion of storage tanks for distillates, filling station for tanker lorries *2003: reverse flow project finished (which allows Russian oil delivered by tankers to Ashkelon, reloaded onto tankers in Eilat for shipment to Asia) *2004: modern filling plant for LPG cylinders *2020: agreement reached with the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

to transport Emirati oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

Pipelines

Crude oil pipelines

* Eilat port - Ashkelon port ( Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline), 254 km, Ø 106 cm (42"), max 60 Mio. tons per year, 3 booster stations (

Yotvata :''"Yotvat" is also the Hebrew name for Tiran Island''. Yotvata ( he, יׇטְבָתָה, ar, يوتفاتا) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located on the Arabah road in the southern Negev, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Eilot Regi ...

Mashabei Sadeh Mashabei Sadeh ( he, מַשְׁאַבֵּי שָׂדֶה) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was estab ...

) * Ashkelon port -

Haifa Refinery BAZAN Group, (ORL or BAZAN, ), formerly Oil Refineries Ltd., is an oil refining and petrochemicals company located in Haifa Bay, Israel. It operates the largest oil refinery in the country. ORL has a total oil refining capacity of approximatel ...

Haifa port The Port of Haifa ( he, נמל חיפה) is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep-water harbor, which operates all year long, and serves both pa ...

, 197 km, Ø 40 cm (16/18"), 3 pumping stations (Givati, Glilot, Hadera), max 5.5 Mio. tons per year * Ashkelon port - Ashdod Refinery, 36 km, Ø 40 cm (18/16"), max 7 Mio. tons per year

Products pipeline

* Eilat port - Giv'ati - Haifa refinery, 260 km, Ø 40 cm (16"), distillates (gasoline, jet fuel, gasoil)

The bidirectional reverse flow project

This project reversed the flow direction of Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline oil - meaning that it can now also flow southwards instead of only northwards, as originally conceived when Israel consumed Iranian oil. The idea behind the project is to transport crude oil from Russia,

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n republics and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

through the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

or the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to Southern Asia and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

at a competitive price. The capacity and size of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

is limited and therefore expensive. * Ashkelon port - Eilat port, 254 km, Ø 106 cm (42"), max 20 Mio. tons per year, 2 booster stations

Oil ports

* Eilat, storage capacity 1.2 Mio. m³, for tankers up to , 16 storage tanks * Ashkelon, storage capacity 1.5 Mio. m³, for tankers up to , 22 storage tanks

References

External links

Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company
{{Authority control Eilat Israeli companies established in 1968 Oil and gas companies of Israel Oil and gas companies of Iran Oil pipeline companies Iran–Israel relations