Securing Supply and Demand: Natural Gas Pipelines and the Europe-Russia Relationship
Abstract
The supply of natural gas to Europe from Russia is an enormously complex undertaking that has publicly negative consequences when disrupted. This has been headlined each winter for the last four years as pricing disputes between Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine have triggered Russian supply cutoffs to pipelines that supply Europe. Each time this reignites European interest in reducing dependence on Russia for natural gas. As Europe seeks a stable supply of gas, Russia seeks a stable demand for gas. On the surface these goals seem to be mutually reinforcing, but pricing disputes with Ukraine are not the only complicating factor. Although these factors are numerous, the majority are closely related to the system of current and planned natural gas pipelines for feeding Europe and to the complexities of the Europe-Russia relationship. The Nord Stream pipeline from Russia direct to Germany now appears almost unstoppable, so a united effort by Europe to ensure the completion of the Nabucco pipeline will be important to reduce this dependence and enable Europe to achieve more of its foreign policy goals and energy security goals while also improving relations with Russia.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- AD1019719
Entities
People
- Gregory T. Pound
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College