Oil Pipeline Politics Steadily Intensifies 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Syed Rashid Husain

While the "mission was accomplished" in a manner not befitting the planners of "shock and awe," a new and aggressive search for incremental and secure energy supplies continue all around. This energy-rich region continues to enjoy the global focus, yet other energy rich areas could now increasingly be witnessed on the global radar screen.

The craving to dominate these new emerging areas also could be deciphered all around. Indeed when Michael Collon said, "If you want to rule the world, you need to control oil, all the oil, anywhere," he has a point.

Central Asia is now the focus of renewed attention — for its energy riches. A very interesting game is taking place in the region, with stakeholders trying to checkmate and outdo each other.

Landlocked Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan that broke away from the Soviet Union in the 90s and are believed to be holding up to 5 percent of the world's energy resources.

They however, need routes, outlets, to let their product reach markets. Interestingly, all their oil and gas exports to Europe are currently shipped via Russian-owned and dominated pipelines.

Brussels however, seems increasingly uncomfortable about this dependence on Kremlin, especially when there are ongoing talks of a new phase of Cold War, very much imminent.

To Russia, the landlocked region is its backyard. It would not be comfortable with others having a permanent sway over this region. A revitalized Moscow under Putin seems determined, somewhat desperate, to gain the ground lost. With most of the supplies form these Central Asian states currently going through pipelines passing through Russia, Moscow enjoys a control on the taps. And Russia is not ready to let this control go.

The US and its European partners however, desperately want the Russian stranglehold to diminish and loosen.

With the collapse of the USSR in the 90s, not only a "new world order" came into being, a unipolar world also came into existence. That unipolar world is finally under duress today, crumbling as some said. Energy-rich Russian, already producing crude at par or even higher than Saudi Arabia, is enjoying a reversal of fortunes in many senses. Putin is leveraging Russian geography and energy riches, to ensure Washington does not get too much into its backyard. Over the past couple years, Russia has also been flexing its energy muscles, interrupting gas supplies to energy deficient Europe at least twice.

Last month Viladimir Putin took a week long energy quest to the Caspian region. One of the major objectives of the tour was to preempt the construction of trans-Caspian pipelines bypassing Russia. The initiative came amid endeavors by Washington and its European allies to develop new energy routes that exclude Russian territory.

Earlier on March 15, the Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline agreement was signed in Athens by the Greek prime minister, the Russian president and the prime minister of Bulgaria. The agreement entails the construction of a pipeline transferring oil from the Black Sea Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Aegean Greek port of Alexandroupoli.

The creation of the pipeline is not just a solemn energy development. It also relates to the ambitions of Russia — perhaps the "New Russia" under President Vladimir Putin heading toward the "hot waters" of the Mediterranean, in a game that has been seen over and over again during the past millennium.

Earlier when the US sponsored Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan pipeline was inaugurated, bypassing Russia, many felt Washington was endeavoring aggressively to contain Russian influence from spreading back into the region. Even Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had announced then, some said in response to the growing US pressure on him, to join the BTC pipeline at a later stage and use it for exporting part of Kazakh crude, bypassing the Russian territory.

However, during President Putin's visit to Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev used a very different language, "Our cooperation in the oil and gas sector has a strategic character, particularly for transporting Kazakh energy supplies to world markets using Russian pipelines, " saying "Kazakhstan is completely committed to transporting most, if not all, of it across Russian territory."

Former Communist bloc countries earlier in May at a summit in Cracow, announced supporting the extension of an existing pipeline that channels Central Asian oil to Ukraine. The plan is to extend the pipeline to the Polish Baltic Sea port of Gdansk. The pipeline was initially built to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Russia for oil.

Another pipeline currently being talked about is the AMBO pipeline.

This pipeline is projected to run from the port of Burgas through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the port of Vlore in Albania, connecting for the first time the Black Sea with the Adriatic and to a wider extent, Central Asia with the Italian peninsula and beyond. The 912-kilometer pipeline is sufficient to transfer around 40 million tons of oil, roughly the same amount as the Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline.

The completion of this venture is scheduled for 2012.

At a political level, many said this US-led project, in practical terms, is in direct competition with the Russian sponsored Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline, with the Burgas port acting as the starting point for both.

The message is increasingly clear.

The emerging Russia is not ready to tolerate any nonsense from any one and would use everything at its disposal to counter the Western onslaught. Pipeline politics is definitely heating up!