CBS :Israel's expenditure on Energy imports up 60%

According to trade figures released last week by the Central Bureau of Statistics ( CBS ), during the first nine months of 2005, Israel's expenditure on energy imports - refined fuels, unrefined crude oil and coal reached $5.16 billion.
 
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics the amount spent in the first nine months on fuel was 60% over and above the $3.233 billion spent during the first nine months of 2004.
 
The CBS analysis shows that the surge in fuel costs began in 2004, with costs rising 21.7% over 2003, reaching a total of $4.5 billion for all of 2004.
 
The rise is a result mostly of the jump in world oil and coal prices.
 
The CBS noted, however, that the gradual switch to natural gas as a source of energy which began in early 2004 slightly moderated the situation.