John C. K. Daly
The Iran conflict has made completing the moribund Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCP) increasingly attractive. Central Asia is looking to export its resources to Europe because of Russia’s waning influence and because of growing natural gas demand as the conflict in the Persian Gulf endangers Europe’s access to Middle Eastern gas.
The TCP would link Central Asia to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor and could annually deliver 1.06 trillion cubic feet of gas worth $5 billion. Progress has long been blocked by legal disputes amid the Caspian littoral states and financing challenges. Shifting geopolitics—including EU efforts to replace Russian gas, Russia’s pivot from selling gas to Europe to the People’s Republic of China, and conflict in the Persian Gulf—create the best window of opportunity for the TCP’s construction since the project’s inception.
No comments:
Post a Comment