Azerbaijan’s Lost Transparency - CARNEGIE EUROPE

March 20, 2017

Thomas de Waal

Azerbaijan’s suspension from a coalition of energy-extracting countries will harm Baku’s international brand and image as a reliable place to invest.

Can a petrostate with a rent-seeking elite ever reform itself—or at least clean up its business practices?

That the answer could be “yes” was the idea that drove the founders of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2003. The initiative is a voluntary coalition of countries with energy- and mineral-extraction industries that pledge to make their transactions and sources of wealth transparent. The project took off and won support from international financing organizations, and at the start of 2017, the EITI had 51 implementing member countries.

As of March 9, it has one less. Azerbaijan, the Caspian petrostate on the eastern edge of Europe, announced it was quitting EITI after being suspended from the organization. The announcement came just as the groundwork was being completed for an expanded network of three pipelines scheduled to take Azerbaijani gas to European markets by 2020.

Turkish Stream: The Cost of Russia’s Stubbornness - CARNEGIE MOSCOW CENTER

20.10.2016,
By Mikhail Krutikhin

Unlike Russian gas pumped via Ukraine and Germany, that flowing through Turkey will face tough competition from Azerbaijani, Iranian, Iraqi, and possibly even Turkmen and Israeli gas. Gazprom’s rivals won’t need to ship their gas as far, and they will have much lower pipeline construction costs. The gas market in southeastern Europe is not that big and doesn’t have a lot of room for growth.

Not so long ago, Turkey was on the Kremlin’s list of adversaries following the NATO member’s shooting down of a Russian fighter jet over the Syria-Turkey border. Now Russia is effectively relinquishing control over its southward gas export to Turkey. This is the extent to which the Kremlin is prepared to go to punish disobedient Ukraine—but it will come at a cost to Russia.

Turkey and the Energy Transit Question - CARNEGIE EUROPE

SEVERIN FISCHER
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

For foreign and security policy analysts, pipelines tend to be the entry point into the world of energy. Pipelines create dependencies between countries, pipelines stay for decades, and pipelines have a highly symbolic political value.

In the European energy security debate, gas pipelines also have an identity function: you either support freeing Europe from its dangerous addiction to Russian gas by backing the Southern Gas Corridor—formerly known as “Nabucco” and designed to bring new gas supplies from the Caspian Basin, Central Asia, and Middle East regions into Europe—or you blindly follow the Kremlin’s breadcrumbs into the Nord Stream/South Stream-energy trap. Critical differentiation is rare.

Today, controversies over pipeline politics have a rather anachronistic flavor. This is mainly due to the growing flexibility of European—and partially global—natural gas markets in light of the massive increase in LNG supply, interconnectors, and spot market trade. This new market environment has not only changed the relationship between producers and consumers but has also altered the political and economic leverage of transit countries. This is especially important when looking at new transit countries, Turkey being a prominent example.

Egypt Discovery Transforms Petroleum Outlook in Eastern Mediterranean - CARNEGIE MEC

CAROLE NAKHLE, Op-Ed
August 16, 2016
The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies

Summary: Egypt is in a different league than its neighbors in the Eastern Mediterranean when it comes to oil and gas exploration.
When it comes to oil and gas exploration and production, Egypt is in a different league than its neighbors in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its oil activity spans more than one century and the country enjoys a colorful corporate landscape where large and small international companies and national companies cooperate and continue to make significant discoveries. From a regional perspective, having such a major competitor right at their own doorsteps presents challenges to countries like Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel. But this does not necessarily signal a race to the bottom. On the contrary, it can lead to opportunities if cooperation is pursued.

Egypt’s Natural Gas Crisis | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

BY BRENDAN MEIGHAN 

Egypt’s temporary relief from its ongoing gas crisis is the result of a lull in demand, not an improvement in industry outlook. Thursday, January 21, 2016

One of the most pressing crises facing the Egyptian economy has been the severe shortage of natural gas. The crisis itself—which involves supply cuts to factories and frequent electrical outages—has received copious coverage in the domestic and international press and has tested the patience of the Egyptian people and the business community. However, during the first week of November, officials at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) announced that Egyptian heavy industry was now being supplied with all of its needed natural gas and other fuels. Officials from a number of companies and trade organizations confirmed this on December 2. There has also been an absence of reports of power cuts in major residential areas. Unfortunately for Egypt, this may simply be the result of a lull in demand due to moderate weather and slower production from heavy industry, not a permanent end to the shortages.