The Israeli Ministry of聽Energy聽warned of an imminent shortage of cooking gas on Wednesday following damage caused by Iranian missiles to the Bazan refinery in the northern city of Haifa.
A missile launched from Iran caused significant damage to the Bazan refinery, a main source of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the local Israeli market.
鈥淭he severe damage sustained by the Bazan refinery last week, which led to the shutdown of all refinery operations, could cause a sharp shortage of condensed hydrocarbon gas and liquefied petroleum gas,鈥� the ministry said in a letter sent to company managers and cited by the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist.
The ministry said priority in gas supply will be given to hospitals, laundries serving hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, bakeries, food factories, shelters, and essential manufacturing plants.
Local consumers, whether in central gas storage in buildings or in gas cylinders, will be last in line for gas allocation, according to the newspaper.
Energy聽Minister Eli Cohen said it will take about a month for the Bazan refinery to fully resume operations to meet all domestic economic needs.
The Bazan refinery has produced 44% of LPG used by the Israeli local economy, while the Ashdod refinery provides an additional 19%, and the rest is imported through the state company鈥檚 pipelines, according to figures released by the聽Energy听惭颈苍颈蝉迟谤测.
Another source in the聽energy聽sector said that the damage to Bazan means a shortage of about 7,500 tons in the coming weeks.
According to the newspaper, Israel is considering several options to fill in the gap in supplied liquefied gas, including 鈥渦sing the state鈥檚 emergency reserves, reducing LPG sales to the Palestinian Authority, or increasing imports.鈥�
Israel launched airstrikes on several sites across Iran on June 13, including military and nuclear facilities, alleging that Tehran was on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb, a claim vehemently denied by Iran.
While Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes, the US joined the conflict by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.
After 12 days of aerial combat between the two regional arch-foes, US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran to end their conflict.
By Abdelraouf Arnaout and Rania Abu Shamala in Jerusalem and Istanbul聽
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr