In Israel there are three pipelines for crude oil: A 42″ crude oil pipeline of 254 km linking the Red Sea port of Eilat with the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon; a 16″/18″ crude oil pipeline of 197 km connecting Ashkelon with the Haifa refinery and a 18″/16″ crude oil pipeline of 36 km connecting Ashkelon with the Ashdod refinery with a maximum throughput capacity of 7 million tons.
Crude oil began futures trading on the NYMEX in 1983 and is the most heavily traded commodity
Each crude oil type has unique molecular, chemical characteristics. No crude oil type is identical and there are crucial differences in crude oil quality. The results of crude oil assay testing provide extensive detailed hydrocarbon analysis data for refiners, oil traders and producers. Assay data help refineries determine if a crude oil feedstock is compatible for a particular petroleum refinery or if the crude oil could cause yield, quality, production, environmental and other problems.
The practice of using profits generated from one product or service to support another provided by the same operating entity or the practice of charging higher prices to one group of consumers in order to subsidize lower prices for another group, effectively favorising or subsidizing the latter. Such a transfer, which is in fact an internal transfer, is known as cross subsidy.
In the Israeli Electricity Sector Law it is specifically stated that every price will reflect the cost of a particular service without reducing one price on account of another being increased.
In the natural gas for instance if adopted in the Israeli LNG sector, would have the disadvantage of higher gas price when it first penetrates the Israeli market and the need to make higher payments when the facility is not in use compared to lower payments when usage of the facility increases
