Energy Pathways
Many countries rely on energy imports to sustain their energy demands and to make sure that the consumers of the energy get the supplies that they require. Energy pathways are the flows of energy from producer to consumer. Pathways can take the form of oil pipelines, gas pipelines, electricity power lines and sea routes of tankers (they could be carrying oil and gas). Much oil in the World is located in the Middle East and you could say that they are an dominant player in terms of energy demand – they export much of their oil supplies to countries like China and Russia, big countries with a huge demand. Gas pathways can be seen as different as they are less globally required. Gas is more local and on a regional scale. Gas is traditionally transported through pipelines, in contrast oil is normally transported by ship and some pipelines.
Trans Siberian gas pipeline
This pipeline is one of Russia’s main natural gas export pipelnies – it is partially owned and operated by Ukraine.
Trans Siberian gas pipeline
This pipeline is one of Russia’s main natural gas export pipelnies – it is partially owned and operated by Ukraine.
This map helps to explain where the gas pipeline routes locally are.
The Trans Siberian pipeline begins in Urengoy (to the north-west of this map) and finishes in Uzhgorod. Energy is transported through the pipeline – from Uzhgorod in Western Ukraine, natural gas is transported to Central and Western European countries. The pipe crosses the Russia-Ukrainian border north of Sumy.
In Ukraine, the pipeline carries gas to the Uzhgorod pumping station on the border with Slovakia and then to smaller pumping stations on the Romanian and Hungarian borders.
The pipeline was constructed between 1982 and 1984 and created the transcontinental gas system Western Siberia Western Europe. The pipeline is managed by two key energy players Gazprom and UkrTransGaz. The diameter of the pipeline is 56 inches with the Ukrainian side of the pipeline is 720 miles with the Russian side 2080 miles in length and in 2011 UkrTransGas began improvements to the infrustructure.
There have been some geo-political issues and disagreements associated with this pipeline – one was a disagreement among the allies. The Soviet plans to build the pipeline – they were seen as a threat to the balance of the European energy trade. These plans were strongly opposed by the Ronald Reagan administration. The US prevented US companies from selling supplies to the Soviets in able to build the pipeline. This is was also a part of what was the retribution against the soviets for their policies towards Poland. This disagreement can be classified as a geo-political issue. This definitely impacts the relationships politically between countries and their ability to work together and collaborate in international projects and general relations. This disagreement also impacts economically as if the US has been told not to sell supplies to the Soviets then the pipeline will be more costly as the Soviets will have to source projects from elsewhere, possibly at a higher price. The prices of the energy might, consequently, be more money.
Another geo-political issue that has also occurred was in the construction of the pipeline. It was subject to a United States Congressional hearing. An investigation was held regarding the use of imported Vietnamese labour was used from re-education camps to build the pipeline. This has many impacts, most importantly the reputation of the pipeline in its future success in supplying energy. This may also as a result, affect the economic prosperity of the pipeline. It is also a social and ethical problem which countries wishing to gain energy from the pipeline may think twice about using this source – specifically the US as they started the investigation.
Trans Alaskan gas pipeline
The Trans Siberian pipeline begins in Urengoy (to the north-west of this map) and finishes in Uzhgorod. Energy is transported through the pipeline – from Uzhgorod in Western Ukraine, natural gas is transported to Central and Western European countries. The pipe crosses the Russia-Ukrainian border north of Sumy.
In Ukraine, the pipeline carries gas to the Uzhgorod pumping station on the border with Slovakia and then to smaller pumping stations on the Romanian and Hungarian borders.
The pipeline was constructed between 1982 and 1984 and created the transcontinental gas system Western Siberia Western Europe. The pipeline is managed by two key energy players Gazprom and UkrTransGaz. The diameter of the pipeline is 56 inches with the Ukrainian side of the pipeline is 720 miles with the Russian side 2080 miles in length and in 2011 UkrTransGas began improvements to the infrustructure.
There have been some geo-political issues and disagreements associated with this pipeline – one was a disagreement among the allies. The Soviet plans to build the pipeline – they were seen as a threat to the balance of the European energy trade. These plans were strongly opposed by the Ronald Reagan administration. The US prevented US companies from selling supplies to the Soviets in able to build the pipeline. This is was also a part of what was the retribution against the soviets for their policies towards Poland. This disagreement can be classified as a geo-political issue. This definitely impacts the relationships politically between countries and their ability to work together and collaborate in international projects and general relations. This disagreement also impacts economically as if the US has been told not to sell supplies to the Soviets then the pipeline will be more costly as the Soviets will have to source projects from elsewhere, possibly at a higher price. The prices of the energy might, consequently, be more money.
Another geo-political issue that has also occurred was in the construction of the pipeline. It was subject to a United States Congressional hearing. An investigation was held regarding the use of imported Vietnamese labour was used from re-education camps to build the pipeline. This has many impacts, most importantly the reputation of the pipeline in its future success in supplying energy. This may also as a result, affect the economic prosperity of the pipeline. It is also a social and ethical problem which countries wishing to gain energy from the pipeline may think twice about using this source – specifically the US as they started the investigation.
Trans Alaskan gas pipeline
The pipeline begins in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and goes through Fairbanks, Glennallen and finishes in Valdez, Alaska. It is considered one of the world’s largest pipeline systems.
The supply is transported through the pipeline and thus distributed from North to South to homes, industry and other infrastructure.
The Trans Alaskan gas pipeline is operated by two key players in the energy sector, TransCanada and ExxonMobil, they developed the pipeline project in 2009. The project’s aim is to connect Alaska’s vast North Slope natural gas resources to new markets as well as deliver a secure source of clean burning energy for decades. The two energy key players have the potential to develop one of the largest privately funded energy projects in the history of North America. The major Alaska gas producers have recognised that the global market is evolving and is therefore considering developing a large-scale liquefied natural gas export facility from south-central Alaska as an alternative to the natural gas pipeline.
The infrastructure has been complex to install – the project has faced a number of challenges, one of them is the climate of the area as its extremely cold and the difficult terrain. The construction of the pipeline had to deal with the problems of permafrost, as a consequence special techniques for construction had been developed to cope.
The project has been positive for the area as the project has attracted tens of thousands of workers to Alaska.
There has been some opposition and geo-political issues with the pipeline. Alaska Natives in the country were upset that the pipeline would cause environmental damage as the pipeline would cross land traditionally claimed by a variety of native groups – they wouldn’t get any economic benefits. There are more environmental problems, conservation groups and environmental organisations had voiced opposition to the pipeline before 1970. Arctic engineers had raised concerns about the way plans for the pipeline didn’t consider permafrost in the engineering of the pipeline. This impacts environmentally as well as economically as if the pipeline is delayed, the benefits of the pipeline economically won’t be seen for a while.
The pipeline is threatened as North Slope production is declining. It is in threat of being shut down – this means that the US is dependent on oil imported from unstable regions like this on. This in itself, threatens the economic viability of the US. The US is heavily reliant on this pipeline as one third of the state’s economy is based on this oil activity – the pipeline needs to be a viable investment for countries for it to be sustainable.
Middle Eastern Supplies
The supply is transported through the pipeline and thus distributed from North to South to homes, industry and other infrastructure.
The Trans Alaskan gas pipeline is operated by two key players in the energy sector, TransCanada and ExxonMobil, they developed the pipeline project in 2009. The project’s aim is to connect Alaska’s vast North Slope natural gas resources to new markets as well as deliver a secure source of clean burning energy for decades. The two energy key players have the potential to develop one of the largest privately funded energy projects in the history of North America. The major Alaska gas producers have recognised that the global market is evolving and is therefore considering developing a large-scale liquefied natural gas export facility from south-central Alaska as an alternative to the natural gas pipeline.
The infrastructure has been complex to install – the project has faced a number of challenges, one of them is the climate of the area as its extremely cold and the difficult terrain. The construction of the pipeline had to deal with the problems of permafrost, as a consequence special techniques for construction had been developed to cope.
- The pipeline is 800 miles
- It has 11 pumping stations
- TAPS ships some 18% of U.S. oil production to market
- Because of declining North Slope production, the 2 million barrel-per-day capacity TAPS today has a throughput of less than 770,000 barrels per day. It is estimated that the lower limit of effective operation for TAPS is about 200,000-300,000 barrels per day.
The project has been positive for the area as the project has attracted tens of thousands of workers to Alaska.
There has been some opposition and geo-political issues with the pipeline. Alaska Natives in the country were upset that the pipeline would cause environmental damage as the pipeline would cross land traditionally claimed by a variety of native groups – they wouldn’t get any economic benefits. There are more environmental problems, conservation groups and environmental organisations had voiced opposition to the pipeline before 1970. Arctic engineers had raised concerns about the way plans for the pipeline didn’t consider permafrost in the engineering of the pipeline. This impacts environmentally as well as economically as if the pipeline is delayed, the benefits of the pipeline economically won’t be seen for a while.
The pipeline is threatened as North Slope production is declining. It is in threat of being shut down – this means that the US is dependent on oil imported from unstable regions like this on. This in itself, threatens the economic viability of the US. The US is heavily reliant on this pipeline as one third of the state’s economy is based on this oil activity – the pipeline needs to be a viable investment for countries for it to be sustainable.
Middle Eastern Supplies
The Middle East is made of mostly Wesern Asia and Egypt. History of the area dates back to ancient times and the Middle East has been a major hub of world affairs particularly in recent years regarding energy.
Many countries around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil – this has meant the economy in this area has thrived particularly for nations in the Arabian peninsula.
In the 20th century, crude oil supplies in the region made it an important and significant player in the energy market. Mass oil production began in 1945 – countries and regions like Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia having large quantities of oil.
According to statistics from the International Energy Agency, Iran has the highest primary energy use using 2,350 TWh. The regions in the top five are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.
As the Middle East has so much energy, exporting is key to the economic prosperity of the area – in 2010 the Middle East exported 12,228 TWh. Major exporters include Saudi Arabia (37.2%), Qatar (14.3%) and Iran (12.9%).
One example of a piece of infrastructure that is being developed in the Middle East is the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP). It exports Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan also with an underwater pipeline to Israel. Some of the gas will be supplied via the Arab gas transportation system to places like Jordan.
Many countries around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil – this has meant the economy in this area has thrived particularly for nations in the Arabian peninsula.
In the 20th century, crude oil supplies in the region made it an important and significant player in the energy market. Mass oil production began in 1945 – countries and regions like Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia having large quantities of oil.
According to statistics from the International Energy Agency, Iran has the highest primary energy use using 2,350 TWh. The regions in the top five are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.
As the Middle East has so much energy, exporting is key to the economic prosperity of the area – in 2010 the Middle East exported 12,228 TWh. Major exporters include Saudi Arabia (37.2%), Qatar (14.3%) and Iran (12.9%).
One example of a piece of infrastructure that is being developed in the Middle East is the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP). It exports Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan also with an underwater pipeline to Israel. Some of the gas will be supplied via the Arab gas transportation system to places like Jordan.
The infrastructure project was completed at the end of the first quarter of 2003 and consists of laying pipeline made up of two sections. The project’s infrastructure was divided into phases to build each of the pipeline - the first one 250km linking Al-Arish to Taba and the second submerged and running for 15km. The project also includes a compressor station in Al-Arish, receiving and metering stations in Taba and Aqaba, a SCADA System, a cathodic protection system, valves, buildings and other needed equipment and facilities, along with consulting services, institutional support and technical training.
The infrastructure has been threatened many times by attacks. Fifteen attacks have affected the pipeline since the start of the Egyptian uprising in early 2011 – as a result the infrastructure has been damaged and the Jordan Prime Minister confirmed in November 2012 that in the past 18 months of the Arab Spring, Jordan has lost $4 – 5 billion as a result of oil stoppage particularly Egyptian gas resources.
The development of this pipeline has had many geo-political issues. Western countries, allies with the countries in the Persian Gulf are not happy with the project, Turkey is also not happy with the project, as their number one transporter as it would be out of the energy game. Also, acts of sabotage have occurred with Egypt threatening to reduce gas supplies to Jordan and eventually halt the supply to them however there is no evidence of this occurring and statements have been made which suggest that Jordan is not cutting however the supply. However, Jordan has had an insecure energy supply which impacts socially on the people in the country as they are unable to gain the gas supplies they need. Also, it impacts economically as Jordan’s industry relies of gas to power machines etc. Finally, it also impacts prices of energy as if the supply is insecure then the energy key players will need more money to invest and make sure the supply is more secure for the future.
The infrastructure has been threatened many times by attacks. Fifteen attacks have affected the pipeline since the start of the Egyptian uprising in early 2011 – as a result the infrastructure has been damaged and the Jordan Prime Minister confirmed in November 2012 that in the past 18 months of the Arab Spring, Jordan has lost $4 – 5 billion as a result of oil stoppage particularly Egyptian gas resources.
The development of this pipeline has had many geo-political issues. Western countries, allies with the countries in the Persian Gulf are not happy with the project, Turkey is also not happy with the project, as their number one transporter as it would be out of the energy game. Also, acts of sabotage have occurred with Egypt threatening to reduce gas supplies to Jordan and eventually halt the supply to them however there is no evidence of this occurring and statements have been made which suggest that Jordan is not cutting however the supply. However, Jordan has had an insecure energy supply which impacts socially on the people in the country as they are unable to gain the gas supplies they need. Also, it impacts economically as Jordan’s industry relies of gas to power machines etc. Finally, it also impacts prices of energy as if the supply is insecure then the energy key players will need more money to invest and make sure the supply is more secure for the future.