... redirecting the pipeline through Turkey rather than Bulgaria does not strengthen Russia’s position on the European gas market from a strategic point of view. Rather, abandoning the South Stream project should be a good reason to start a new chapter in energy cooperation between Europe and Russia.
The decision on South Stream can easily be viewed as a reaction to Western sanctions. For years, Brussels has been pursuing an active policy against Russian plans to build a southern link of its gas infrastructure to connect the country directly with the European market,...
... case of gaining access to the privatization of the national joint stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy.
The South Stream project appears to be the only litmus paper test this year that might reveal the degree of the EU’s determination to restrain its energy relations with Russia (the first gas supplies via South Stream are to happen in late 2015, while in 2013, the construction of the overland section of the South Stream gas pipeline began in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia). Significant EU reductions of Russian gas imports are unlikely to happen in 2013. And ...
... clearly visible & need to be addressed. I have always been surprised by students lack of filling in module assessment forms, but perhaps this post will generate some feedback in one form or another. In a week, I will be returning with a new post on energy, on promised topics. This short intermission has missed some interesting events; one colleague of mine has just returned from where South Stream is being build and it looks in full-swing, in contrast Nabucco appears to be now a distant dream of a EU policymaker, Egypt continued instability has caused a short spike in oil prices and as usual there is plenty of news in the ever popular ...
... pipeline that seek to circumvent Russia are built on financial fantasy and betoken of a short-termism that is strategically reckless. Continued austerity for the next decade and perhaps longer will probably end any remaining hopes for both Nabucco and South Stream.
But the energy battle between the EU and Russia over Nabucco and South Stream is a proxy conflict in a wider war of rival visions – a growing strategic divergence that risks dividing the greater Europe permanently. Just as the EU seeks to diversify its ...
... which does not account for industry realities or Russian and peculiarly even its own interests as it is undermining its own energy security.
Long-Term Contracts a No-No:
An area of contention stimulating uncertainty is the debate amid long-term ... ... Gazprom has reduced prices by pursuing its own strategy of spreading costs by building more pipelines and supplying more gas; South Stream pipeline introduction resulted in lower prices for European consumers.
That said, Europe still does not agree, ...
