Apr 04, 2014 03:00 am | Gonul Tol, Alex Vatanka
The
crisis in Ukraine has rightly sparked concerns over a possible cut in
Russian natural gas to Europe. Europe receives roughly 30 percent of its
gas supplies from Russia, and more than half of the Russian natural gas
delivered to Europe travels through Ukraine. This dependence needs to
be remedied, and the sooner the better. As European leaders weigh the
continent’s energy strategies to mitigate the potential long-term loss
of Russian supplies, two countries—Turkey and Azerbaijan—stand out as
important partners in Europe’s quest for energy security.Turkey has long sought to become an energy hub for Caspian and Middle Eastern oil and gas to Europe. Azerbaijan, a secular, pro-U.S. country on the shores of the Caspian Sea, has significant hydrocarbon resources of its own. Its location also positions it as a natural conduit for oil and gas exports to Europe from landlocked but energy-rich Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The overlap in interests between Turkey and Azerbaijan—as exporting and transit countries—has already resulted in two strategic energy projects: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) natural gas pipeline. Two key lessons from these pipeline projects are highly instructive.
read morehttp://nationalinterest.org/commentary/restoring-energy-security-after-crimea-10181
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