Tweet
A PIPELINE RUNS THROUGH IT
Investor's Business Daily
Posted 8/13/2008
Geopolitics: Russia's aggression is not only about toppling a
pro-Western democracy and potential NATO member. It's about the only
pipeline bringing Caspian Sea oil to the West not controlled by Moscow
or Iran.
Georgia is only the latest instance of Russia's plans to reassemble the
"evil empire" and neuter NATO expansion, using energy as both a weapon
and a means of financing its rapid military expansion. Russia has
doubled its military in the past five years, thanks in large part to
the "windfall profits" it has reaped from skyrocketing energy prices.
One of the Russian targets in Georgia is a pipeline carrying oil
from the Caspian to the West. Georgia was a target of renewed Russian
imperialism because it was a democracy, a future NATO member and an
energy supplier to the West. Its use would accelerate declining oil
prices worldwide and put a serious crimp in Moscow's plans.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, in which British Petroleum is
the lead partner, can carry up to a million barrels of oil a day. It
runs from Kazakhstan through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and breaks
Russia's stranglehold on supplying energy to Europe. Moscow currently
supplies 25% of Europe's energy needs.
Another pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, will carry natural gas
along the same route. It has a capacity of 16 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas a year and is needed to get Turkmenistan's vast natural
gas reserves to European customers.
Georgian officials claimed that Russian aircraft dropped at least
30 bombs but failed to damage or disable the underground BTC
pipeline. "The Russian bear is trying to choke the vital east-west
energy arteries in the Caucasus, specifically the BTC oil pipeline
and the gas pipeline," says Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation.
Adds Clifford Gaddy, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution:
"We have to assume that the pipelines are a military target of the
Russians. If they need to, they will bomb the pipelines." Failing
that, if Russia cannot control the pipelines directly or through a
new puppet government in Tbilisi, it at least wants to discourage
investors from completing the projects.
It's the fragile economies of Eastern Europe and the energy-starved
European Union that are the most immediate victims of Putin's power
grab. Moscow has seized the assets of the once-private oil giant
Yukos and cut off oil supplies or abruptly hiked prices to former
Eastern Europe client nations that have dared to pursue economic and
political policies independent from Russia.
In January 2006, Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, supposedly
over a pricing dispute. The pipeline disruption temporarily curtailed
gas deliveries to Western Europe, sending a message that energy is
also a weapon in Moscow's arsenal.
It's also in part Putin's response to NATO expansion and U.S. plans
to put missile interceptors in Poland and tracking radars in the
Czech Republic.
Finally, it's a message to Ukraine that a price will be paid if it
pursues NATO membership as Georgia has. Russia has made clear its
displeasure with Ukraine, cutting off gas supplies 2 1/2 years ago
and reducing deliveries last March.
For its part, Ukraine recently threatened to bar Russian ships using
leased bases in the Crimea to support military operations in the
Black Sea against Georgia.
A month ago, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers joined 600 Georgians and 100
from Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia participating in joint military
exercises at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi. The base was a
target of Russian air attacks. The U.S. also airlifted 2,000 Georgian
troops serving in Iraq back to defend their homeland.
Russia needs to pay a hefty price for its actions. At the very least,
it needs to be told it can forget about WTO or G-8 membership. At the
same time, NATO should put membership for both Georgia and Ukraine
on the fast track.
Investor's Business Daily
Posted 8/13/2008
Geopolitics: Russia's aggression is not only about toppling a
pro-Western democracy and potential NATO member. It's about the only
pipeline bringing Caspian Sea oil to the West not controlled by Moscow
or Iran.
Georgia is only the latest instance of Russia's plans to reassemble the
"evil empire" and neuter NATO expansion, using energy as both a weapon
and a means of financing its rapid military expansion. Russia has
doubled its military in the past five years, thanks in large part to
the "windfall profits" it has reaped from skyrocketing energy prices.
One of the Russian targets in Georgia is a pipeline carrying oil
from the Caspian to the West. Georgia was a target of renewed Russian
imperialism because it was a democracy, a future NATO member and an
energy supplier to the West. Its use would accelerate declining oil
prices worldwide and put a serious crimp in Moscow's plans.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, in which British Petroleum is
the lead partner, can carry up to a million barrels of oil a day. It
runs from Kazakhstan through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and breaks
Russia's stranglehold on supplying energy to Europe. Moscow currently
supplies 25% of Europe's energy needs.
Another pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, will carry natural gas
along the same route. It has a capacity of 16 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas a year and is needed to get Turkmenistan's vast natural
gas reserves to European customers.
Georgian officials claimed that Russian aircraft dropped at least
30 bombs but failed to damage or disable the underground BTC
pipeline. "The Russian bear is trying to choke the vital east-west
energy arteries in the Caucasus, specifically the BTC oil pipeline
and the gas pipeline," says Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation.
Adds Clifford Gaddy, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution:
"We have to assume that the pipelines are a military target of the
Russians. If they need to, they will bomb the pipelines." Failing
that, if Russia cannot control the pipelines directly or through a
new puppet government in Tbilisi, it at least wants to discourage
investors from completing the projects.
It's the fragile economies of Eastern Europe and the energy-starved
European Union that are the most immediate victims of Putin's power
grab. Moscow has seized the assets of the once-private oil giant
Yukos and cut off oil supplies or abruptly hiked prices to former
Eastern Europe client nations that have dared to pursue economic and
political policies independent from Russia.
In January 2006, Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, supposedly
over a pricing dispute. The pipeline disruption temporarily curtailed
gas deliveries to Western Europe, sending a message that energy is
also a weapon in Moscow's arsenal.
It's also in part Putin's response to NATO expansion and U.S. plans
to put missile interceptors in Poland and tracking radars in the
Czech Republic.
Finally, it's a message to Ukraine that a price will be paid if it
pursues NATO membership as Georgia has. Russia has made clear its
displeasure with Ukraine, cutting off gas supplies 2 1/2 years ago
and reducing deliveries last March.
For its part, Ukraine recently threatened to bar Russian ships using
leased bases in the Crimea to support military operations in the
Black Sea against Georgia.
A month ago, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers joined 600 Georgians and 100
from Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia participating in joint military
exercises at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi. The base was a
target of Russian air attacks. The U.S. also airlifted 2,000 Georgian
troops serving in Iraq back to defend their homeland.
Russia needs to pay a hefty price for its actions. At the very least,
it needs to be told it can forget about WTO or G-8 membership. At the
same time, NATO should put membership for both Georgia and Ukraine
on the fast track.