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Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Stephen Green and British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould
Lord Green accompanied by delegation of leading UK oil & gas companies to meet Israeli counterparts
Lord Green, the UK’s Minister for Trade and Investment, is in Israel this week leading a delegation of British oil and gas organisations to forge a new partnership with Israel in those sectors.
As part of his visit, the Minister travelled to the Leviathan 4 rig and saw firsthand Israel’s gas sector in operation. He met with industry leaders, discussing with them how the UK and Israel can work together. Lord Green also met with Israel’s Minister the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour, Shalom Simchon to discuss ways both countries could further develop further cooperation.
Commenting on his visit, Lord Green said, “The UK and Israel have a strong and growing bilateral relationship, underpinned by exceptional security cooperation, and growing in trade, science and higher education. We are natural partners. We are in a unique position now to expand that partnership to a sector that has potentially enormous economic benefits for both countries. I was delighted to visit Israel, and to be part of this exciting story.”
Matthew Gould, the UK’s Ambassador to Israel said, “My team at the embassy are pursuing an ambitious agenda of partnership in science, tech and higher education. We’ve made tremendous progress, but there are many other possibilities in the relationship still largely untapped. One is in the oil and gas sector, which is why I was so pleased Lord Green came here this week at the head of a large delegation from the UK’s oil and gas sector. I am sure that these partnerships are good for Britain, good for Israel, and good for the relationship between the countries.”
Barry Grossman, the Director of UKTI in Israel, said of the visit, “As Israel builds up its gas industry, the UK is well placed to be a key partner. We have our own experience of building up an oil and gas industry from scratch. We have a huge range of expertise and experience, all the way from deep sea drilling to project finance. Scotland, renowned as the industry’s UK hub, has more than 2,000 companies in the energy industry, operating in over 100 markets worldwide. And we have the world’s financial centre, with British banks leading the field in financing Israel’s new gas sector.”
