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Ariel Cohen: Russia works to maintain control over energy transportation routes and opposes any projects that could provide Europe with alternative supply lines

07 June 2011 09:51 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. Isabel Levine â€“ APA. Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy at the Heritage Foundation, believes that â€œcontrol of energy corridors from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and beyond was an objective of the Russian military operation against Georgia in August 2008â€.

â€œRussia is willing to use force to achieve its geo-economic goals in its region. This has been clearly confirmed by other incidents involving delays in energy supplies to Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and the Baltic statesâ€, Mr. Cohen stated in Washington DC, during his meeting with the Congress Europe and Eurasia Subcommittee of International Relations Committee members.

â€œMany argue that Moscowâ€˜s international energy behavior leaves its partners insecure and makes observers doubt that Russia is a responsible player, especially when unconstrained by competition and powerful investment sourcesâ€, he mentioned.

The analyst reminds that, as a giant energy producer and major energy transit country, Russia is an important player in the field of global energy production. â€œRussia has the largest reserves of natural gas in the world, and possesses some 79.4 billion barrels of oil, approximately 6.4% of the worldâ€˜s total. Despite its vast resource base and its formal assurances of its reliability as a partner, Moscow has already proved that it is willing to hike up oil and gas prices to match the general trend of higher energy prices, engage in anti-free market practices, especially at home and in Europe, and use energy as a foreign policy toolâ€.

Therefore, Mr. Cohen has no doubt that Russia works to maintain control over energy transportation routes and opposes any projects that could provide Europe with alternative supply lines.

â€œEuropean demand was very high before the recent economic crisis, and is projected to grow further provided the current geopolitical instability does not cause another global recession. Eastern Europe consumes even higher percentages of Russian energy, with several countries entirely dependent on Russian gas. However, US and Europe should have serious reservations concerning Russian practices that limit access to the market, tend to promote corruption, and expand Moscowâ€˜s energy transport agendaâ€.

Speaking about the American perspective over the Russian energy geopolitics up to 2020, the analyst pointed out that European energy imports on monopolistic Russian oil and gas exporters is a negative long-term geopolitical trend. However, there are other issues.

â€œDespite being the worldâ€˜s largest energy consumer, the United States has limited energy relations with Russia. In 2002â€“2003 Russia refused to construct projects dedicated to oil exports to the United States, such as the Murmansk pipeline, suggested by the then-privately held YUKOS, LUKoil and Sibneft oil companies. Moscow has also derailed attempts by U.S. oil supermajors to buy significant non-controlling stakes in large private Russian companies such as YUKOS. On the other hand, Gazprom considered and abandoned plans to export LNG to the US West Coast. If Moscow is serious about the â€•resetâ€–, it needs to address a number of fundamental issues, first and foremost the issues of market access and the rule of law. First, US companies should gain access to oil and gas fields and pipeline projects, not limited by the obsolescent Natural Resources Law and the state-owned pipeline monopoliesâ€, said the expert.