A six-inch gas pipeline extending 18 miles from the Rosh Zohar gas field to the Dead Sea Works in Sdom was opened here yesterday in the presence of Finance Minister Levi Eshkol, Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, vice-president of the Israel Bond Organization and leaders of Israel Government and industry.
The new pipeline, which cost $742,500 to build, will deliver fuel gas directly from the gas field to the bromine and potash plants at Sdom, which previously was supplied with fuel oil from Haifa by means of tanker trucks.
Mr. Eshkol said at the inauguration ceremonies that the gas fuel discovered at Rosh Zohar, which will be a major factor in the industrialization of the Dead Sea area, will make possible the construction of the township of Arad on a ridge overlooking the Dead Sea. He said work on the township will start within a few months.
Israel bonds provided investment resources for the exploration and drilling of the natural gas field at Zohar, as well as the construction of the pipeline. Additional pipelines are planned to bring gas to the phosphate plants at Oron and to textile factories at Dimonah, as well as to the petro-chemical industry, utilizing gas by-products.
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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.