Haifa Oil Refineries Targeted for 2029 Closure, Despite Earlier Delays
The head of Israel's Haifa Bay development agency stated that the Bazan oil refineries will close in 2029, reversing a previous delay to 2031 announced in the directorate's 2025 annual report. The refineries have been targeted for closure since a 2022 cabinet decision, with the shutdown critical to transforming the bay into an urban development hub. The closure depends on building alternative infrastructure for fuel storage and distribution across northern Israel.
Yuval Admon, head of the Directorate for the Development of Haifa Bay, announced that the Bazan oil refineries will cease operations in 2029, contingent on resolving infrastructure challenges. The 2022 cabinet decision to close the refineries and nearby oil storage complex in Kiryat Haim established 2029 as the target date, but the directorate's 2025 annual report pushed this to 2031. Admon identified two main bottlenecks: storing 550,000 tons of distillates beneath the Carmel mountain range and storing 20,000 tons of cooking gas near Kfar Masaryk. Environmental surveys and planning for alternative storage and distribution sites are underway at three locations, though the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council has opposed one proposed site. The closure is central to a major urban redevelopment project envisioning 130,000 new homes, a hospital, parks, and green jobs in the Haifa Bay area.
What's missing
The article does not provide details on the environmental or health impacts that prompted decades of campaigns by environmentalists and residents to close the refineries, nor does it specify the timeline or feasibility assessment for completing the alternative infrastructure projects required by 2029.
What different sources said
- Times of IsraelCenter
Haifa oil refineries ‘will close in 2029,’ says head of Haifa Bay development agency
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