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Turkish Daily News
March 9 2007
Bryza in Turkey over Caspian gas race
Friday, March 9, 2007
TOMASSO NELLI
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
The U.S. drive towards enrolling Turkey on Europe's side for energy
security has strong geo-political overtones, and focuses on ensuring
a steady supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe through
Turkey. The U.S. government "is passionate about a new strategic
era," said U.S. Undersecretary of State for the Economy Matt Bryza at
an energy conference in Istanbul yesterday. Turkish Energy Minister
Hilmi Güler also spoke. The two will discuss ways of fighting the PKK
in northern Iraq tomorrow in Ankara, issues relating to the new Iraqi
hydro-carbon law, which forces Turkey to deal with the Kurdish-led
Northern Province for many energy issues which Ankara would rather
discuss with Baghdad.
Bryza was here only last month, and went on to visit president
Alyev of Azerbaijan in a drive to ensure ironclad economic conditions
for the transit of natural gas through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceylan
pipeline, a project which was endorsed by the U.S. during the times
of Turkish president Demirel, and which has successfully been brought
to completion. Bryza said that he visited Khazakstan two weeks ago,
and that the government there has serious intentions to link to the
BTC. "We do not want to isolate Russia in the Caspian. We can't," he
said. He was outspoken in his criticism of Russian state giant
Gazprom, which supplies 60 percent of Turkey's gas. The conference
addressed the issue of energy diversification.
Against monopolies:
Bryza argued that a "deep disfunctionality" affects European gas
market, and that the U.S. intends to see competitive conditions in
the natural gas market, and that Russia, which buys Central Asian gas
for around $100 per billion cubic meters (bcm) to sell it in Europe
for up to $300 per bcm, was running a monopoly. While oil can be
transported by tankers, gas (unless liquefied) is always delivered by
pipeline. "We will never consume one molecule of Central Asian gas,"
said Bryza, and added that no U.S. companies were operating in
Azerbaijan.
Bryza argued that the $200 profit that Russia earned from
transporting gas to Europe was used to "fuel corruption and in some
cases organized crime."
He also said the United States hoped to nudge Gazprom to "turn
inwards" and build its own fields, and apply to Western companies to
develop them. "We don't want another Cold War with Russia," he said.
"We want to work with Turkey and Azerbaijan to increase competitively
for the EU market."
Bryza said that Turkey had to assure Azerbaijan it would not
interrupt transport of gas through the BTC no matter how much gas it
took from Russia, and that Azerbaijan had to make sure supply was
constant. He said that rumors that Baku fields were insufficient were
Russian disinformation, and that 20 billion bcm per year could be
expected by 2012-13. This is quarter of Russian gas export to Europe,
and is enough for supplying gas through the planned
Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline and for the first part of the un-built
Nabucco pipeline, linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
Russia politicizes energy:
"In Moscow people want to politicize relations with governments and
officials," said Bryza.
Despite its aut-aut treatment of Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus,
Russia has in the past proved reliable with its supply of oil and gas
to its western clients (who pay in hard cash and were never part of
the communist subsidies and barter system). In terms of international
law, degree of intervention - smashing a monopoly within a sovereign
country - is controversial.
Bryza stated that Russia was using international law and the
ecology in suspicious ways. "Russians cite Soviet agreements and say
they remain valid," he said. The 1921 treaty between the Soviet Union
and Iran, which describes the Caspian as a lake, is a focus of
disagreement because it would empower these two Caspian nations to
veto the construction of pipelines can invoke it. Caspian nations
have proliferated since the break-up of the U.S.S.R.
BTC is the favorite pipeline Bryza said that the U.S. had thrown
its full diplomatic weight behind the TBC, but was not doing the same
for the Samsun-Ceylan pipeline because, while the TBC was the sole
possible route to bring gas westwards past political and geographic
bottlenecks, the Samsun-Ceylan has many other competitor routes
(through Macedonia and Albania, Ukraine, as well as the
Burgas-Alexandropolis and the Costanza-Trieste). It is noteworthy,
however, that the TBC is the only one of these routes that could not
move Russian energy westwards. "If you are NABUCCO you could be
looking towards Russia or Iran. The U.S. would not be able to support
it if it moved gas from Iran," he added.
Iran:
Commenting on the proposed natural gas cartel between Iran and
Russia, Bryza pointed out that the idea had been brought to the
international stage by Russian President Vladimir Putin, not by Iran.
Asked whether the United States would ever allow the Iranian market
to find its way to global markets and turn to China and India, Bryza
said that if "Iran will become more responsible, we hope to see large
amounts of Iranian gas going through Turkey..." he paused, blushed,
and looked to the panel. "..President Güler is laughing at me!"
Rapidly developing India and China are expected to become
increasingly energy-hungry, which raises the question whether there
is another Cold War in the making behind the apparent Cold War that
is being resurrected over Caspian gas.
Bryza reassured the panel that the Bush government was against a
political solution to the Armenian question, and preferred historians
and common people to get involved. He also said that new developments
from Washington from the past two-days would be discussed in Ankara
with minister Güler, but stated that the 2007 referendum over the
fate of Kirkuk was set to take place because written into the Iraqi
constitution.
March 9 2007
Bryza in Turkey over Caspian gas race
Friday, March 9, 2007
TOMASSO NELLI
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
The U.S. drive towards enrolling Turkey on Europe's side for energy
security has strong geo-political overtones, and focuses on ensuring
a steady supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe through
Turkey. The U.S. government "is passionate about a new strategic
era," said U.S. Undersecretary of State for the Economy Matt Bryza at
an energy conference in Istanbul yesterday. Turkish Energy Minister
Hilmi Güler also spoke. The two will discuss ways of fighting the PKK
in northern Iraq tomorrow in Ankara, issues relating to the new Iraqi
hydro-carbon law, which forces Turkey to deal with the Kurdish-led
Northern Province for many energy issues which Ankara would rather
discuss with Baghdad.
Bryza was here only last month, and went on to visit president
Alyev of Azerbaijan in a drive to ensure ironclad economic conditions
for the transit of natural gas through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceylan
pipeline, a project which was endorsed by the U.S. during the times
of Turkish president Demirel, and which has successfully been brought
to completion. Bryza said that he visited Khazakstan two weeks ago,
and that the government there has serious intentions to link to the
BTC. "We do not want to isolate Russia in the Caspian. We can't," he
said. He was outspoken in his criticism of Russian state giant
Gazprom, which supplies 60 percent of Turkey's gas. The conference
addressed the issue of energy diversification.
Against monopolies:
Bryza argued that a "deep disfunctionality" affects European gas
market, and that the U.S. intends to see competitive conditions in
the natural gas market, and that Russia, which buys Central Asian gas
for around $100 per billion cubic meters (bcm) to sell it in Europe
for up to $300 per bcm, was running a monopoly. While oil can be
transported by tankers, gas (unless liquefied) is always delivered by
pipeline. "We will never consume one molecule of Central Asian gas,"
said Bryza, and added that no U.S. companies were operating in
Azerbaijan.
Bryza argued that the $200 profit that Russia earned from
transporting gas to Europe was used to "fuel corruption and in some
cases organized crime."
He also said the United States hoped to nudge Gazprom to "turn
inwards" and build its own fields, and apply to Western companies to
develop them. "We don't want another Cold War with Russia," he said.
"We want to work with Turkey and Azerbaijan to increase competitively
for the EU market."
Bryza said that Turkey had to assure Azerbaijan it would not
interrupt transport of gas through the BTC no matter how much gas it
took from Russia, and that Azerbaijan had to make sure supply was
constant. He said that rumors that Baku fields were insufficient were
Russian disinformation, and that 20 billion bcm per year could be
expected by 2012-13. This is quarter of Russian gas export to Europe,
and is enough for supplying gas through the planned
Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline and for the first part of the un-built
Nabucco pipeline, linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
Russia politicizes energy:
"In Moscow people want to politicize relations with governments and
officials," said Bryza.
Despite its aut-aut treatment of Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus,
Russia has in the past proved reliable with its supply of oil and gas
to its western clients (who pay in hard cash and were never part of
the communist subsidies and barter system). In terms of international
law, degree of intervention - smashing a monopoly within a sovereign
country - is controversial.
Bryza stated that Russia was using international law and the
ecology in suspicious ways. "Russians cite Soviet agreements and say
they remain valid," he said. The 1921 treaty between the Soviet Union
and Iran, which describes the Caspian as a lake, is a focus of
disagreement because it would empower these two Caspian nations to
veto the construction of pipelines can invoke it. Caspian nations
have proliferated since the break-up of the U.S.S.R.
BTC is the favorite pipeline Bryza said that the U.S. had thrown
its full diplomatic weight behind the TBC, but was not doing the same
for the Samsun-Ceylan pipeline because, while the TBC was the sole
possible route to bring gas westwards past political and geographic
bottlenecks, the Samsun-Ceylan has many other competitor routes
(through Macedonia and Albania, Ukraine, as well as the
Burgas-Alexandropolis and the Costanza-Trieste). It is noteworthy,
however, that the TBC is the only one of these routes that could not
move Russian energy westwards. "If you are NABUCCO you could be
looking towards Russia or Iran. The U.S. would not be able to support
it if it moved gas from Iran," he added.
Iran:
Commenting on the proposed natural gas cartel between Iran and
Russia, Bryza pointed out that the idea had been brought to the
international stage by Russian President Vladimir Putin, not by Iran.
Asked whether the United States would ever allow the Iranian market
to find its way to global markets and turn to China and India, Bryza
said that if "Iran will become more responsible, we hope to see large
amounts of Iranian gas going through Turkey..." he paused, blushed,
and looked to the panel. "..President Güler is laughing at me!"
Rapidly developing India and China are expected to become
increasingly energy-hungry, which raises the question whether there
is another Cold War in the making behind the apparent Cold War that
is being resurrected over Caspian gas.
Bryza reassured the panel that the Bush government was against a
political solution to the Armenian question, and preferred historians
and common people to get involved. He also said that new developments
from Washington from the past two-days would be discussed in Ankara
with minister Güler, but stated that the 2007 referendum over the
fate of Kirkuk was set to take place because written into the Iraqi
constitution.