Israel called for foreign experts today to put out an oil well fire that has been raging for 24 hours among off-shore oil rigs in southwest Sinai. The fire, which broke out at noon Tuesday in the Israel-operated Abu Rodeis oil fields on the Red Sea coast of Sinai has caused damage estimated at 1L 1-million a day. Attempts by local fire-fighters to extinguish the blaze failed and specialists from abroad were called for and are expected at the scene shortly.
A preliminary investigation has ruled out sabotage and no casualties were reported. The fire, sending flames and smoke hundreds of feet into the air, swept over several oil rigs and platforms in the shallow waters off the Sinai shore. Experts estimated that 17 percent of Abu Rodeis’ production was affected.
There are 20 off-shore wells at Abu Rodeis which was captured from Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War. The field is operated by the Israel government-owned Netivei Neft oil company which invested $3.5 million in the off-shore drilling. The off-shore oil is superior to that produced by the inland wells. Abu Rodeis has been supplying some 60 percent of the 17 million tons of oil Israel consumes annually. All of it is refined in Israel. The production lesses resulting from the fire will have to be made up from other more expensive sources.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
