Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed this week a preliminary agreement under which crude oil from OPEC’s third-largest producer could be shipped to European markets via an oil pipeline in Israel connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. In a major energy deal after Israel and the UAE agreed to normalize relations in September, Israeli state firm Europe Asia Pipeline Co (EAPC) and UAE-based MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in transporting crude oil and fuel from the Gulf to Western markets via the pipeline between Israeli cities of Eilat on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon. The pipeline, built in the 1960s, was intended to serve the transit of crude oil from oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf to customers in Europe. Israel built the pipeline together with Iran at the time—before the Islamic Revolution in Iran in […]