What price access to the open seas? The geopolitics of oil and gas transmission from the Trans-Caspian republics

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was the world's largest hydrocarbon producer. The landmass over which these resources are distributed is vast and the reserves mostly landlocked. To convey these hydrocarbons to refineries and to market, the Soviets constructed the largest integrated pipeline networks in the world. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, new competing national interests have produced tensions over these energy resources and transmission corridors, with economically detrimental and often irrational consequences. In Central Asia, the post-Soviet Republics of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan produce significant amounts of hydrocarbons and export their oil and gas to or through Russian Federation territory. Russian government policy aims to continue exercising political control over these resources and to maximize Moscow's share of profits from their export. This paper examines oil and gas transmission issues in Central Asia, against a backdrop of emerging new relationships between the Russian Federation and the three post-Soviet republics, the resurgent strategic competition between Russia and the United States, China's developing power base in the region and Iran's potentially key geographic position for channelling Caspian energy supplies towards the Persian Gulf.     

The Future of Energy Security for Europe: Turkey's Role as an Energy Corridor

The question of energy security is one of the main concerns for the future of Europe because of the growing dependency of the European countries on third parties, namely Russia, for natural gas. The future of European energy security will be shaped by the EU's dependence on Russia and its ability to find alternative sources of energy as well as multiple routes of transport. Turkey's location between the major energy producers in the Caspian and the major energy consumers in Europe has increased Turkey's potential role as the transit country. The article addresses the Turkish role in the transport of resources from the Caspian region to the European territory. As the Caspian region's resources provide a viable alternative for the EU to diversify its energy suppliers, Turkey emerges as a major hub for energy transport and assumes a greater role in the future of energy security. This article investigates the future challenges to the transport of natural gas into Europe and the role that Turkey will acquire as a transit country, largely replacing Ukraine. The article addresses the following questions: (i) what is Turkey's potential role for energy security in Europe? (ii) what kind of challenges emerge with the increased role for Turkey in European energy routes? (iii) what are the main sources of tension over energy security? The main proposition of the article is that Turkey plays a critical role for the EU's energy security, decreasing its reliance on Russia specifically for the transport of natural gas.     

Russia and Caspian Oil: Moscow Loses Control

A senior specialist on the Soviet and Russian economies examines issues surrounding the prominence of Caspian Sea oil in Russian policy. Attention is devoted to the evolution of Russian policy toward ownership of seabed resources, participation in international development consortia, and the routes, construction, and ownership of pipelines connecting the Caspian to world markets. Each issue is treated as one that engages the economics, politics, and security dimensions of international relations. Alternative scenarios for the future are outlined.     

近期南海情势发展之观察与分析

近期南海情势持续过去三四年来总体保持稳定的发展趋势.尽管南海岛屿声索方仍然各自不断采取种种宣示、强化岛屿主权的措施,包括计划在有争议水域与西方石油公司合作勘探开采油气资源,或修建机场跑道,或举办选举等,这些虽造成声索方之间的摩擦,但未来南海区域内发生严重武装冲突的可能性相当低.本文主要目的在于讨论近一两年来南海情势之发展.继前言后,文章第二节首先摘要介绍南海岛屿声索方在南海所采取宣示主权、强化管辖权的动作.第三节说明最近中国与东盟所提出有关处理南海问题的政治声明.第四节讨论中国在南海几个重要议题上所进行的活动现状.第五节特别针对越南在南海的经营提出观察.文章最后评估南海现状与未来走向.     

Russia’s energy relations in Southeastern Europe: an analysis of motives in Bulgaria and Greece

Although officially Russian state-owned energy companies operate as independent entities, their actions often lead to suspicion that they are acting as a tool of Russian state foreign policy. Countries on the southeastern borders of Europe – Bulgaria and Greece – are prime examples of where this might be the case, since they not only have a central position in Russia’s plans to penetrate European markets through new transport infrastructure but are also part of competing plans for routing non-Russian gas to Western markets. The main focus of the present research is on the natural gas and oil sectors, as these are the traditional foundation of Russian energy exports to Europe. The aim of this paper is thus to provide an objective, evidence-based analysis of Russian activities in the natural gas and oil sectors of Greece and Bulgaria in order to establish whether its actions have been implicitly or explicitly politicized and have served to strengthen Russian influence in the region.     

海峡两岸合作勘探开发东沙海域油气资源探析

在海洋油气勘探与开发方面,海峡两岸的合作前景十分广阔。东沙海域作为潜在的油气资源富集区,区位优势明显。两岸可在东沙海域全面推进油气资源的合作勘探与开发,为今后在其他海域合作积累经验,共同维护南海油气资源开发权利和南海主权。     

文莱海上安全政策初探

文莱在国家经济发展高度依赖海洋油气资源的开发与出口、只能提供有限战略防卫能力等条件下,选择了主要依靠地区安全机制实现海上安全战略的途径."大国平衡"政策和"集体安全"方式是文莱维护既得海洋权益,实现海上安全的主要政策内容.     

THE MODERN CREATION OF CHINA’S ‘HISTORIC RIGHTS’ CLAIM IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

The overlapping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea threaten to spark conflict in East Asia. On several occasions in recent years, disputes over the right to extract oil and gas have caused clashes between Chinese and Southeast Asian vessels. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was agreed by almost all countries in 1982 to try to resolve such disagreements. However, the People's Republic of China is currently trying to claim rights that go beyond UNCLOS and infringe on the UNCLOS-based rights of the other claimants. It deploys two arguments in particular: that the archipelagos in the South China Sea collectively generate rights to maritime resources and that China enjoys ‘historic rights’ in the sea. Neither of these arguments is found within UNCLOS, however. This article explores the origin of these Chinese arguments and finds that the ‘historic rights’ claim can be traced to a single Taiwanese academic writing in the 1990s during a period of intense debate in Taiwan over its relationship with the PRC.     

Book Reviews

Books Reviewed:
Lawrence G. Potter and Gary G. Sick (eds.), Security in the Persian Gulf: Origins, Obstacles, and the Search for Consensus
Bernard Hoekman and Patrick Messerlin, Harnessing Trade for Development and Growth in the Middle East
Martha Brill Olcott, Kazakhstan, Unfulfilled Promise
Bulent Gokay (ed.), The Politics of Caspian Oil
Michael P. Croissant and Bulent Aras (eds.) Oil and Geopolitics in the Caspian Sea Region
Martin Kramer, Ivory Towers On Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America
Thomas Baylis, How Israel was Won: A Concise History of the Arab–Israel Conflict     

东北亚油气合作的现实选择:来自中国在中亚的成功经验

东北亚和中亚地区凭借丰富的油气资源,在世界能源版图中的地位日渐上升。近年来,中亚地区油气合作发展迅速,但是在资源总量上更具优势的东北亚油气合作之路却充满曲折。在地区性统一能源市场形成之前,政府间多边协调机制仍然是东北亚油气合作的现实选择。中国在互利双赢的理念指导下,以良好的政治互信为基础,以油气运输管线为纽带,通过以双边合作为主、双边合作带动多边合作的方式,循序渐进地稳步推进了与中亚国家的油气合作。因此,中国在推动地区油气合作方面积累了一定的成功经验,提高了驾驭复杂局面的能力,理应在推进东北亚油气合作方面发挥更积极的作用。     

China and the competition for oil and gas in Asia

While its economic dynamism stimulates continued growth in Asia, China's increasing demand for energy is creating intense competition, particularly with Japan, over international sources of supply. Domestic fields have generally been disappointing, as have efforts to pipe gas from Central Asia and Russia to the east coast. Consequently, China is not only paying greater attention to potential petroleum resources in the East and South China Seas, but also considering the vulnerability of its sea-lanes to the Middle East and beyond. Its need to diversify has promoted closer relations with Central Asia, the Middle East, and the oil producing countries of Africa and Latin America, but the jury is out on whether China's concerns for secure energy supply will lead to international cooperation against terrorism or fuel the already heated competition for oil and gas. As China continues to assure its future energy security in Asia and many areas of the world, sustained bilateral and multilateral diplomacy to reconcile disputes and avoid conflict will become more important than ever.     

The Political Constraints on Economic Policy in Post-1982 Mexico: The Case of Pemex

Abstract Fourteen years of market-oriented reform in Mexico have led to many economic changes. However during 1982–1994 there was relatively little change in the hydrocarbon sector. This article seeks to explain the slowness of reform essentially in political terms. While political constraints on reforming the hydrocarbons sector were genuine, it is also clear that the De la Madrid and Salinas governments chose to avoid controversial decisions in this sector as far as possible. Risk aversion seems, at least in this context, to have been a characteristic of Mexican authoritarianism during 1982–1994. Because of the inherent importance of the oil and gas sector to the Mexican economy, the slow growth of production since 1982 (largely resulting from extreme policy caution) provides a part of the explanation for the slow growth of the Mexican economy as a whole.     

Constraints in Gas for Oil Substitution in the USSR: The Oil Refining Industry and Gas Storage

While Soviet oil output peaked in the early 1980s, natural gas output grew rapidly. As a result the Soviets have sought to use more natural gas as a boiler fuel, freeing petroleum for the higher priority mobile and chemical uses. Lack of depth in Soviet oil refining and lack of gas storage capacity are the two key constraints in this gas-for-oil substitution strategy. This paper considers the prospects for easing these constraints by restructuring the petroleum refining industry, and providing enough gas storage capacity to supply all gas demand during the winter. Journal of Economc Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 723.     

美国南海政策的军事化及其影响

当前,国际社会正处于"百年未有之大变局"中,中美两国竞争加剧。在这一背景下,美国南海政策的军事化倾向尤为突出。通过案例分析、运用比较分析的方法对美国南海政策军事化及其影响进行探究,可以看出美国南海政策军事化的主要目的是遏制中国的崛起。为达到这一目的,美国提升了"航行自由行动"的频率和烈度,增加了在南海内沿和外围的军事战略存在,还加强了与盟国的同盟关系。不过,美国国内有一部分人认为南海政策军事化目前并未达到其希望的效力,反而使美国在战争与和平之间愈加难以保持平衡。美国在南海地区的影响力受到挑战的同时,中美关系也因此有所倒退,南海局势变得更加复杂。鉴于此,中国一方面要保持克制态度,增强危机意识,做好预案,通过高质量外交对话等方式增进与美国的政治互信,另一方面也要加快推进与东盟国家《南海各方行为准则》的谈判与磋商,与东盟国家一道维护好南海地区的和平与稳定。     

Coping with energy insecurity: China’s response in global perspective

Already the world’s second largest energy consumer, China has accounted for more than a third of the increase in global oil demand since 2000. Due to infrastructural bottlenecks as well as supply shortages, intensified by sustained growth, the PRC is likely to become an increasingly important factor in global oil and gas markets, and to pursue an increasingly active energy diplomacy. Reducing energy vulnerability will be a key imperative. The PRC is striving to reduce its energy vulnerability by: (1) promoting energy efficiency; (2) diversifying away from its heavy reliance on coal and oil, toward nuclear power and natural gas; (3) improving domestic energy infrastructure; (4) promoting national energy champions; (5) deepening reliance on congenial nations; and (6) reducing reliance on sea lanes dominated by the U.S. Navy. Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Australia, and African energy producers are special priority targets of its energy diplomacy, which is likely to become more salient in China's overall foreign policy in coming years.     

Russian Energy and the Korean Peninsula

The recent agreements concerning North Korea’s nuclear program raise possibilities for providing North Korea with energy (oil and gas) to compensate for the termination of its nuclear program and of integrating it more broadly into the Northeast Asian economy. Russia has long wanted to play the role of provider of oil and gas to North Korea and these agreements open up new opportunities for it to do so. However, serious obstacles in the nature of North Korea’s precarious economic situation and its consequences, international rivalries in Northeast Asia, and Russia’s own energy policies present serious obstacles to the realization of Russia’s ambitions as regards North Korea and as energy provider to Northeast Asia as a whole.     

俄罗斯对世界石油体系的挑战及其局限

俄罗斯作为一个强势的油气生产大国,既有意愿也有一定的能力对当前世界石油体系的游戏规则提出挑战。但是经过近年来油价波动、金融和经济危机等变故的冲击,俄罗斯挑战能力的局限性充分暴露出来,挑战以全面收缩而暂告一段落。俄罗斯挑战乏力的根源在于自身权力的缺陷和外部因素的结构性制约。俄罗斯能否彻底改变石油体系的权力结构和规则具有很大的不确定性。     

Soviet Transport Trends, 1950–1990

This paper examines links between the Soviet transport sector and other sectors of the economy. In the 1970s, the transport sector was perceived as a bottleneck. As growth slowed in the late 70s, howevar, the transport sector was able to meet the economy's demands. At present, the transportation of oil and gas is placing an increasing burden on the transport sector, but pipelines can absorb the demands, freeing up rail transport capacity for other commodities. The willingness of Soviet officials to make the appropriate administrative reforms, apply new technologies and increase investment in this sector will determine transport's ability to meet future demands. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 731.     

Energy and security in the Gulf of Guinea: a Nigerian perspective

This article explores the full ramifications of the evolving strategic environment in the Gulf of Guinea. It argues that the ‘new scramble’ or ‘oil rush’ in the region since its emergence as a critical energy repository and a strategic supplier to the global oil markets has elicited multiple lines of interest represented by both state and non-state actors. By delving into Nigeria's oil-rich context, this paper explores the fierce competition for influence ushered in by these developments, the contested notion of ‘security’ and ‘sovereignty’, and the emergent patterns of contestations as the Nigerian state mediates between global and local forces in its oil complex. Finally, it brings into bold relief the complexities of the intensified struggle for access to the region's vast energy resources — the current global economic downturn notwithstanding — and the challenge it poses to the region, and particularly to Nigeria, the dominant player in the region.     

从越南第12次南海国际学术研讨会看南海问题与国际传播话语权的炒作

作为海洋战略实施的具体措施之一,十多年来越南外交研究机构持续主持召开关于南海(越南称"东海")的国际学术研讨会,已形成一种较为稳定的机制。第12次南海国际学术研讨会是在越南因应新冠肺炎疫情冲击、世界和南海地区形势发生重大变化的背景下召开的,呈现出了一些不同于以往各届会议的新特点。越南主流媒体对此次会议给予了较多关注和宣传报道,力图表现出研讨会的所谓"公正性""学术性""法理性"特点,反映出的意愿则是服务于攫取和扩展自身海洋权益的目的,并与美国关于南海问题的声明立场相呼应。举办方试图通过国际学术研讨会平台的形式,渲染南海复杂和严峻的形势,推卸在南海制造麻烦和分歧的责任,宣扬其南海政策主张,寻求影响和主导在南海问题上的国际传播话语权。维护南海的和平、合作与发展是南海区域国家和东盟的共同愿景,推动这一愿景的落实是各方的责任,越南需要拿出切实的诚意和实际行动,不能仅仅停留在口头上,其媒体也应该发挥出更多的建设性作用。