<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117901087289601168.html?mod=googlenews_wsj> Russia, Asia Strike Pipeline Deal Associated Press May 12, 2007 7:17 p.m.
TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan -- Russia announced a deal Saturday to dramatically increase the amount of natural gas it moves from Central Asia to Europe, a key victory in a growing rivalry with the West for the region's vast energy resources.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the region's main energy producers, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, agreed to build a pipeline running from Turkmenistan through Kazakhstan and into Russia's network of pipelines to Europe.
The three presidents also said that, with Uzbekistan, they would revamp the entire Soviet-built pipeline network that carries Central Asian gas to Russia.
Along with two oil deals, the new gas agreements are a blow to U.S. and European efforts to construct oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia that would cross under the Caspian Sea, avoiding Russia, and connect to Europe through Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The deals mean that Russia would control the bulk of Central Asian energy exports, boosting its role as a major supplier of oil and gas to Europe and strengthening Western fears that Moscow could use its energy clout for political purposes.
Russia supplies a quarter of Europe's gas and is its second-biggest supplier of oil. European fears of excessive energy reliance grew after Moscow briefly halted gas supplies to several ex-Soviet neighbors. The shutdowns in 2006 and 2007 took enough gas out of the pipeline network to reduce deliveries to the EU.
Mr. Putin sought to assuage such fears, saying in the Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian shore: "We take our role in the global energy sector very responsibly." But when asked whether others could join the new pipeline project, he answered with a curt, "No."
"It's enough to have three countries," Mr. Putin said.
The new pipeline's cost was not announced, but the ITAR-Tass news agency cited a 2003 estimate putting it at around $1 billion. Other details, such as how the costs would be split among the three nations, were also unavailable.
The presidents ordered their governments to sign an agreement outlining the deal's specifics by Sept. 1. Mr. Putin said construction would begin in mid-2008.
The EU has long pushed Russia to ratify an energy pact that would give independent producers access to its export pipelines and oil and gas fields, but Mr. Putin has bluntly rejected the demand, saying it was against Russia's interests.
There have been no independent audits of Turkmenistan's gas reserves, but the CIA estimated that it has more than two trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves.
Mr. Putin said the new pipeline may carry "at least" 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually by 2012, while Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told reporters that it could eventually carry 30 billion cubic meters a year. -- Yoshie