Oil, Gas Pipelines High Priority for U.S. in Central Asian Military Campaigns
by Dale Allen Pfeiffer, FTW Contributing Editor for Energy
[Copyright 2002, From The Wilderness Publications, www.copvcia.com. All Rights Reserved. May be copied, distributed or reposted for non-profit purposes only]
[Ed. Note: The need for major oil companies to monetize billions in investments in Central Asian oil fields has been cited frequently by FTW as one of the major motivations for U.S. complicity in the attacks of last September. Other motives have included economic control of an estimated $200 billion in cash generated by the opium trade from the region, geopolitical neutralization of potential threats to U.S. global dominance and, more recently, an apparently frenzied and progressively less coordinated effort to do whatever is necessary to sustain a failing U.S. economy.
We felt it important, 10 months after 9-11, to take a close look at the status of the various pipeline projects in and around Afghanistan. The results are surprising. There is no doubt that the removal of Al Qaeda and the Taliban has added to the stability of the entire region by removing their support for a number of Islamic terrorist groups in Central Asia, Russia and the Caucasus -- all of which threatened any pipeline construction projects from the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. Even though Unocal still affirms that it has no interest in a trans-Afghan gas pipeline it abandoned in 1998, credible sources are indicating that it has not written off participation in an oil pipeline that will follow the same route. But Afghan stability remains an apparently unachieved objective.
What is becoming more apparent is that an arrogant and increasingly criminal administration is less and less effective in realizing its foreign policy objectives and the resulting dangers of a global conflagration are increasing. Is there an even larger agenda being pursued? Perhaps. But what we know, 10 months after 9-11, is that there is less of the coveted oil in the region than was thought, and that the political stability necessary to complete the pipelines is apparently more elusive than the Bush Administration has hoped it would be. Nonetheless, pipeline construction is still a high priority.
In this context we note a July 6 story from the Moscow Times reporting that the first-ever direct shipment of Russian oil to the U.S. consisting of 200,000 metric tons arrived in Houston July 3. -- MCR]
July 10, 2002, 19:45 PDT (FTW) -- Pipelines and oil deals seem to be spreading out all over Central Asia. The players include all of the major oil companies, especially those with close ties to the Bush Administration, along with Russian oil companies, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Central Asian republics themselves. Only the Afghanistan pipeline seems to be moving slowly.
Meanwhile, Caspian Sea oil reserves have been downgraded, British Petroleum shows more signs of industry downsizing, and Matthew Simmons, an oil industry insider, is warning of a perfect energy storm.
Who Owns Caspian Sea Resources?
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world energy industry began drooling over the newly formed Central Asian republics and the Caspian Sea. Exploration quickly found what appeared to be enormous, untapped fields of oil and natural gas. Throughout the 1990s, deals were made with various countries claiming ownership of energy reserves. Unfortunately, according to the Department of Energy (DOE), the legal status of the Caspian Sea has yet to be resolved.
Prior to 1991, the only countries bordering the sea were the Soviet Union and Iran. These two countries were bound by the 1921 and 1940 bilateral treaties, which stated that Caspian resources were to be owned jointly. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and emergence of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, there have been numerous disputes about resources in the Caspian Sea. Disputes came to a head in July 2001, when Iranian gunboats confronted a British Petroleum research vessel and ordered it out of waters to which Iran lays claim.
Negotiations among the littoral states have made very slow progress in ironing out the disputes. A summit of the heads of state from the various Caspian Sea countries was postponed several times in 2001, as it became apparent that parties could reach no final agreement. For this reason, while many deals have been proposed between various energy consortiums and republics, none have materialized. Until the ownership status of the Caspian Sea has been resolved, there will be no further development of the SeaÕs oil and gas resources. (See source 1 below)
'Pipelineistan'
Ownership disputes do not extend to continental reserves, as international borders have been clearly delineated. Therefore, the development of land-based resources has been met with a flurry of activity. Considering that the countries of Central Asia are largely landlocked, there has been enormous pipeline building activity to bring Central Asian energy resources to the markets where they are needed.
Projects are underway to ship energy north through modified Russian pipelines. The largest of these projects is a 980-mile pipeline from KazakhstanÕs Caspian Sea oil fields across Kazakhstan and Russia to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. Construction began in 1999, and this pipeline is the largest single American investment in the region. As reported by AlexanderÕs Gas and Oil Connections website, the main client for this pipeline will be TengizChevrOil, half of which is owned by Chevron, a quarter by ExxonMobil and a quarter by Russian and Kazakh partners. (See source 2)
There are also several projects to either truck or pipe energy through Georgian territory, according to the DOE. Chevron has a strong interest in this option, along with Conoco. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency funded a $750,000 feasibility study by Enron for a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, through Azerbaijan and Georgia, to Turkey. Another feasibility study was completed by Unocal. There have been negotiating problems among the various countries, and PSO (co-operator with Royal Dutch/Shell) closed its Turkmenistan office in 2000. Talks about the project have resumed, but the legal issues of Caspian Sea ownership complicate the project. (See source 3)
ChevronÕs involvement throughout the region is quite ubiquitous. AlexanderÕs Gas and Oil Connections reported the company has invested more than $20 billion in Kazakhstan alone. From 1989 to 1992 National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was on the board of directors of Chevron, and was its main expert on Kazakhstan.
Cont ...