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Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 2 2011
New gas deal might warm up Caucasus politics further
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Those interested in a new natural gas field with an incredible 50
billion to 100 billion cubic meters of reserves in the Azeri quarters
of the Caspian Sea are to submit their offers by the end of today,
Oct. 3, to the Shah Deniz-2 Consortium.
The Nabucco Consortium submitted theirs yesterday. The Nabucco project
had aimed to bring Caspian gas to Central Europe to break the
dependency on Russian gas and meet the continuous rise of demand
there.
Things did not go as planned for the shareholders. At first the United
States-led embargo on Iran made it practically impossible for them to
build a pipeline passing from the Iranian territory to reach Turkey
and then further west. Secondly, in order not to lose its upstream
advantage, Russia had a deal with Turkmenistan to buy all of its
existing reserves.
That was not a good time for Nabucco executives; there was a pipeline
project with no gas to fill it. Yet an agreement was signed in 2004
between Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria companies with
equal shares. The Americans were encouraging them by saying that the
invasion of Iraq started, which in 2003 was going to end with success
soon, and they could use rich gas fields there to bring Nabucco back
to life.
In the meantime a pipeline crossing the Black Sea under water was
constructed and started pumping Russian gas to the Turkish port of
Samsun in 2005. It is called the Blue Stream project and together with
the Western Route (passing through Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria) that
was a second tie to increase Turkish electricity production to Russian
gas.
Vladimir Putin, Russian president, then told Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an that they could actually built the Southern Corridor
through Turkey to meet the European needs and even fill Nabucco; a
great irony, since the idea of Nabucco was an alternative to Russian
offerings.
Then something more interesting happened. After retiring from being
chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroder started to work for Gazprom
and in the Northern Corridor project to pump more Russian gas to
Europe. (Nobody could rely on the possibilities in Moammar Gadhafi's
Libya then.)
Now Nabucco is seeking its future in Azeri gas. If they can convince
the Shah Deniz Consortium (BP and Norway's Statoil having more than
half of the shares and with a small Russian Lukoil presence), then
Nabucco can live.
Nevertheless, it is important for Azerbaijan to find another route to
sell its natural gas to outer markets with a route not passing through
Russia; an improvement started with the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline carrying Caspian oil to Turkey's Mediterranean coast. As Shah
Deniz will enrich and empower Azerbaijan and bring the country closer
to the western system, it will put Armenia, its rival in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, under more pressure.
Speaking of rising political tensions and pressure, a day after
ErdoÄ?an's meeting with Schroder on Sept. 29, 2011, that is last week,
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız announced that the Western Route
agreement with Russia was terminated. That will not affect the
Turkish-Russian trade or political relations, but leave Ukraine alone
in its gas fights with Russia and put Kiev under pressure for sure.
Oct 2 2011
New gas deal might warm up Caucasus politics further
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Those interested in a new natural gas field with an incredible 50
billion to 100 billion cubic meters of reserves in the Azeri quarters
of the Caspian Sea are to submit their offers by the end of today,
Oct. 3, to the Shah Deniz-2 Consortium.
The Nabucco Consortium submitted theirs yesterday. The Nabucco project
had aimed to bring Caspian gas to Central Europe to break the
dependency on Russian gas and meet the continuous rise of demand
there.
Things did not go as planned for the shareholders. At first the United
States-led embargo on Iran made it practically impossible for them to
build a pipeline passing from the Iranian territory to reach Turkey
and then further west. Secondly, in order not to lose its upstream
advantage, Russia had a deal with Turkmenistan to buy all of its
existing reserves.
That was not a good time for Nabucco executives; there was a pipeline
project with no gas to fill it. Yet an agreement was signed in 2004
between Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria companies with
equal shares. The Americans were encouraging them by saying that the
invasion of Iraq started, which in 2003 was going to end with success
soon, and they could use rich gas fields there to bring Nabucco back
to life.
In the meantime a pipeline crossing the Black Sea under water was
constructed and started pumping Russian gas to the Turkish port of
Samsun in 2005. It is called the Blue Stream project and together with
the Western Route (passing through Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria) that
was a second tie to increase Turkish electricity production to Russian
gas.
Vladimir Putin, Russian president, then told Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an that they could actually built the Southern Corridor
through Turkey to meet the European needs and even fill Nabucco; a
great irony, since the idea of Nabucco was an alternative to Russian
offerings.
Then something more interesting happened. After retiring from being
chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroder started to work for Gazprom
and in the Northern Corridor project to pump more Russian gas to
Europe. (Nobody could rely on the possibilities in Moammar Gadhafi's
Libya then.)
Now Nabucco is seeking its future in Azeri gas. If they can convince
the Shah Deniz Consortium (BP and Norway's Statoil having more than
half of the shares and with a small Russian Lukoil presence), then
Nabucco can live.
Nevertheless, it is important for Azerbaijan to find another route to
sell its natural gas to outer markets with a route not passing through
Russia; an improvement started with the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline carrying Caspian oil to Turkey's Mediterranean coast. As Shah
Deniz will enrich and empower Azerbaijan and bring the country closer
to the western system, it will put Armenia, its rival in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, under more pressure.
Speaking of rising political tensions and pressure, a day after
ErdoÄ?an's meeting with Schroder on Sept. 29, 2011, that is last week,
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız announced that the Western Route
agreement with Russia was terminated. That will not affect the
Turkish-Russian trade or political relations, but leave Ukraine alone
in its gas fights with Russia and put Kiev under pressure for sure.