By KRISHNADEV CALAMUR
UPI Energy Correspondent
ISTANBUL, Turkey, June 26 (UPI) — Wary of what it sees as Russia’s growing energy clout, Europe is looking to newer sources of energy and supply routes that would diminish some of Moscow’s power in the region.
East to west — from Central Asia via Turkey to Europe — and south to north — from Algeria and Egypt to the European mainland — pipelines are either being planned, constructed or are already crisscrossing the map, supplying oil and gas to an energy-starved continent that relies on Russia for the bulk of its supplies. There are roadblocks to such diversity, however.
The root of Europe’s problem lies in what is seen as Russia’s apparent attempts to use its energy wealth as political muscle and carve out deals favorable to its energy interests in general and its gas monopoly, Gazprom, in particular.
The calls for increased diversification have been spearheaded by states such as Ukraine and Georgia, former Soviet republics that have borne the brunt of Russia’s policies. They say that increased competition in the European energy sector will provide greater stability in the marketplace.
“The key problem today is attempts to monopolize” gas supply, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Tuesday at the “East Meets West: New Frontiers of Energy Security” summit organized by Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Istanbul, Turkey. “Energy levers were used as means of pressure.”
In late 2005 Gazprom turned off gas supplies — temporarily — to Ukraine over a pricing dispute. The Russian monopoly wanted Ukraine and other former Soviet states to pay market rates for gas, which they were receiving at heavily subsidized rates. The reduction in supplies affected the flow of gas to Europe, prompting fears on the continent of its continued energy dependence on Russia.
The idea of bypassing Russia is no longer a pipe dream, however. The successful completion and operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries Azeri crude to Europe via Turkey and Georgia, showed that Turkey could be a major transit hub for Central Asian and Middle Eastern oil and gas supplies to Europe. Similarly, the South Caucasus Pipeline takes gas from Azerbaijan’s Sah Deniz field to Turkey, from where it goes to Europe. But whether these successes can be translated to other pipelines is questionable.
Plans for a Trans-Caspian Pipeline that would carry Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan and on to Europe remain at an impasse. The Nabucco pipeline that would take gas from Turkey to Austria is still seeking partners, though its promoters say it has the legs to become a feasible source of energy for Europe.
“We are highly convinced that this project is not only technically feasible and politically feasible, but also economically feasible,” Johann Gallistl, vice president of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmBH, said Tuesday at the CERA conference.
Russia has the muscle to offset these plans. A proposed Caspian gas pipeline that would carry Turkmen gas to Russia via Kazakhstan would adversely affect any other regional pipeline plan, as would the newly proposed South Stream Pipeline that would carry gas from the Black Sea to Bulgaria.
Turkey, which has positioned itself as the major pipeline transit route to Europe, is likely to gain no matter if they bypass Russia or not. But Ankara, which has close ties to Moscow as well as the Europeans and the United States, is hedging its bets, calling only for increased competition in the energy sector.
“On the east-west corridor, Russia and Turkey compete. That is true,” said Mithat Balkan, a former senior Turkish diplomat. “But the way we look at it is the more routes there are to connect producer countries to consumer countries, the better it is.”
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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)
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