The Soviet Union may be dissolved, and the establishment of sovereign statehood firmly in place for several energy exporting Central Asian territories, but the pipeline architecture continues to represent the regional imperialism of Cold War Russia. Countries such as Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have for years been flirting with new Trans-Caspian pipeline projects to Azerbaijan to circumvent the Russian control over exports to Western Europe (often resulting in higher prices being paid by Gazprom to lock down supply). Robert M. Cutler of Carleton University has a good column on the Caspian pipeline challenge in Asia Times today (extracted below), which argues that Gazprom’s attempts to build a monopoly in Central Asia are in some respects backfiring, as even the Azeris are refusing offers from Russia to purchase their gas reserves at market rates.

At present, about four-fifths of Kazakhstan’s oil has nowhere to go but through Russia’s pipeline system. Half of the rest is exported through the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi, the seaside capital of the formerly rebellious Georgian province of Ajaria. The other half of the rest goes to China, which wishes to quadruple its oil imports from Kazakhstan from 100,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the decade, although Kazakhstan, perhaps because of its experience with Russia, is hesitating at the prospect.