Transnational Energy Pipelines
Energy pipelines are laid in the coldest reaches of the Russian Arctic, extending from there to Germany and other parts of Europe. Oil and gas pipelines traverse the jungles of the Amazon as well as the deserts of North Africa. They run across the Alps and are submerged under the Black Sea; and oil and gas pipelines are to be found in many of the world’s conflict zones, whether in Africa, the Middle East or Asia as well as Latin America. They are subject to natural disasters and are magnets for sabotage and terrorist attacks. Energy pipelines are economic bridges as well as potential political tools. But the unique challenges that oil and gas pipelines, in particular transnational pipelines, present are often overlooked. Pipelines are regularly and simply viewed as a component, a subset, of the energy sector.
Pipelines are clearly a form of transportation of energy. But pipelines are distinctive and are unlike highly tankers, which are mobile and can move around the world. As pipelines are fixtures, they are permanent and not movable, certainly not easily so. They cannot be simply changed. Their permanent presence brings its own challenges. And transnational pipelines by definition present a host of international jurisdictional challenges for their construction, operation and maintenance. And the shipment of gas and oil is not easily subject to competition. Such challenges can only be addressed by cooperative transborder arrangements and international treaties. In short, transborder energy pipelines constitute a separate discipline.
With its multi-year colloquia, Harriman Institute’s Eurasian Pipeline project, “Eurasian Pipelines – Road to Peace, Development and Interdependencies,” focuses on the challenges of gas and oil pipelines in the Eurasian space --- Russian pipelines to Germany, Russian and Kazakh pipelines to China and East Asia, Turkmen (and Iranian) pipelines via Afghanistan and/or Pakistan to India, and Russian-Ukrainian pipelines to Western Europe. These represent some of the most important pipelines in Eurasia, if not the world. But the international pipelines in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America are obviously also critical to the international supply of energy. Moreover, the international grid of energy pipelines continues to expand as billions of dollars are being committed, almost daily, to the construction of new pipelines. Without having an overview of all existing transborder pipelines, as well as prospective pipeline projects, there is no way to fully analyze their impact or understand the commonality of political and economic challenges they present.
The maps and charts shown here are a compilation of public information, including the Energy Information Administration’s Country Analysis Briefs, regarding all existing transnational pipelines. The pipelines are set forth by continent and region with certain descriptive information, including the status of the project, the starting and end points, transit countries, capacity etc. The maps are linked to the respective pipelines and give an overview of their locations and routes.
We invite students and faculty as well as industry experts, academics and members of civil society to actively use the charts. We also invite all to discuss the challenges that the pipelines present in our Energy Pipelines at Columbia University Discussion Forum available through this website.
Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome so that we can expand, develop and improve our database on transborder energy pipelines.
For questions or more details please contact Prof. Jenik Radon at jr2218@columbia.edu.
---DISCLAIMER---
Information contained in these reports and charts is intended for academic purposes and is based on materials that were publicly available when first posted to this site, mainly from the EIA’s Country Analysis Briefs. EIA makes no commitment to update the information to keep it current. While we hope this information is useful to you, we make no warranty as to the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of the information they use from outside providers.
These pages contain links to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and authors. These links provide additional information that may be useful or interesting and are being provided consistent with the intended purpose of this website. The operators of this website do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. We do not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
Though the charts displayed on this website have been reviewed prior to release, the research and data included are those of the authors, are subject to updating and revision, and do not necessarily represent the views of Columbia University.
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