Of course, for Russia to be in a race for resources there would have to be other competitor/racers.How many posts have I done on pipeline politics and the race/competition to control resources..?I can’t even answer that myself. But I am putting up, yet, another one!If you have been following along for more then five years now, you should be aware of this situation.If you haven’t been following along and are unaware of this situation, where have you been?And, boy have you got a lot of catching up to do!The most recent posts talking pipeline politics can be found:From the latest (Chechnya etc.) (3 parts) to Iran, Pakistan, Syria & Qatar and then to another 3 part series covering Cyprus/Israel/Turkey/SyriaIf you are already up to speed then start here:Since you are up to speed you will be aware, we have discussed the Mediterranean Basin resources.And since I prefer, fact, reality and truth to propaganda...let me pile on some more info PDF- 4 pages I will be quoting from an opinion piece, published by Financial Post, written by Lawrence Solomon. (Who this man is, I haven’t a clue) Since the FP is publishing his opinion he must be one of the connected, affiliated or approved talking headsAnd he does brings out some interesting info, I will ignore as much of his propagandistic comments and stick to the "meat and potatoes"..
“Russia’s importance on the world stage today rests overwhelmingly on energy, its main source of foreign exchange and — because much of Europe utterly depends on Russian gas — a dominant source of its political influence. The gas is delivered by Gazprom, until this year the world’s most profitable company.To maintain Gazprom’s dominance in the European market, Putin has been fighting off competitors on numerous fronts. First, to prevent Europe from acquiring gas from a proposed gas pipeline from Turkey, Putin directed Gazprom to pre-empt it by building an economically dubious rival pipeline to Europe”
Economically dubious? The pipeline he is referencing is the competitor pipeline to Nabucco, the Southstream pipeline. Problem with Mr Solomon’s claim is that from my understanding, it is Nabucco that is the economically dubious, ultra expensive and an impractical pipeline.A couple of years ago I did this post on the subject.
South Stream’s advantage is the fact that it has a ready supply of natural gas from Russia, Pamir said, while Nabucco suffers from a lack of suppliers”
Nabucco is utterly and totally useless without Iran. South stream already has a supply of gas. And will soon have more as Mr Solomon points out.
A new threat to Gazprom’s hegemony has emerged – ever-larger discoveries of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean’s Levant Basin, much of which would ordinarily be destined for Europe. In response to these finds in the Levant Basin, which the U.S. Geological Survey believes could hold one of the world’s richest deposits, Putin is again acting to maintain Europe as his preserve, by ensuring that Gazprom has a say in Mediterranean gas deliveries.Step One in Putin’s Mediterranean gambit involves Israel, by tying down its nine-trillion-cubic-foot Tamar field. ( Tying down it’s Tamar field? Pathetic language. He writes as if Israel was forced into dealing with Gazprom. Gazprom likely made the most generous offer) Under terms of a 20-year deal completed earlier this year, Gazprom will now be the exclusive seller of Tamar gas. Very likely, Gazprom will soon also secure rights to Israel’s even larger Levianthan field. Step Two involves Cyprus, by securing rights to its gas. This Gazprom seems set to do, largely by acquiring the Greek gas distribution company which will receive Cyprus gas.
Digressing briefly to the Greek deal: The agency head gave assurances that the winner will be the one who offers the highest bid ensuring there is no pressure from the U.S. and the EU on Greece with regards to the participation of Russian companies in the privatisation.Continuing with Mr Solomons' opinion piece
Steps Three and Four involve two other Levant Basin countries, Syria and its client state, Lebanon. By maintaining Assad in power — not least since Syria hosts Russia’s only naval base in the Mediterranean — Putin will have outsized influence over Levant Basin gas, and the plausible means to continue to keep Europe dependant on him. In 2008, Gazprom, then worth $365-billion, predicted it would be worth $1-trillion by 2015, both by maintaining its dominance in Europe and by capturing much of the Asian market.
To keep Gazprom’s market share from falling further, Putin will need to play hard ball with all concerned. Given the stakes, and given Putin’s well-deserved strongman image, no one should be surprised at Putin’s single-minded determination to keep Syria’s Assad, and himself, solidly in power.”
Mr Solomon seems to take issue with the fact that Russia is outmaneuvering western oil companies, affiliated with the global bankster crowd ( a stroll down memory lane) and doing it all without bombing everyone into freedom and democracy.