Y'all knew that Russia snookered us out of the Caspian Gas pipeline deal...Didn't you?

[SoCalDem]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/13/news/nation/12_25_485_12_07.txt Russian, Central Asian leaders strike crucial natural gas pipeline deal

By: ALEXANDER VERSHININ - Associated Press Writer

TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan -- The leaders of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan reached a landmark pipeline deal on Saturday that will strengthen Moscow's control over Central Asia's energy export routes. The deal to build a pipeline along the Caspian Sea coast to ship Turkmen natural gas to Western markets via Kazakhstan and Russia is a blow to U.S. and European efforts to secure alternatives to Middle East oil and gas that would be independent from Russian influence.

"We are opening the Caspian route at the request of Turkmenistan," Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the announcement of the deal in the Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian shore. Putin said the new pipeline's annual capacity may reach "at least" 20 billion cubic meters of gas by 2012, while Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told reporters that it could eventually carry 30 billion cubic meters a year.

There was no official word on the new pipeline's cost, but the ITAR-Tass news agency said that a 2003 estimate put it at around $1 billion back in 2003. The deal comes amid increased competition for Turkmenistan's vast gas reserves since the death last year of President Saparmurat Niyazov, who had signed deals to build export pipelines to power-hungry China.

Turkmenistan is the second-biggest gas producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia, and its gas resources are playing an increasingly important role in the geopolitics of the region. Russia controls the only export routes for Turkmenistan's gas and the main pipeline for Kazakh oil exports.

The United States and the European Union have lobbied hard for a route under the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and Turkey, bypassing Russia. While both Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov and Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev signaled Saturday that the trans-Caspian pipeline may also be considered in the future, the latest deal means that Russia would control the bulk of Central Asian energy exports.

Also on Saturday, the three presidents announced an agreement involving Uzbekistan to revamp the entire Soviet-built pipeline network that carries Central Asian gas to outside markets via Russia.


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