The United States in the Middle East
The major obstacle for the US and the EU in the Middle East, in order to send natural gas to the EU through Turkey, is that currently they only have at their disposal the large natural gas reserve of Azerbaijan, namely the Shah Deniz field. Azerbaijan is a former member of the Soviet Union, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union Azerbaijan became a NATO friendly country, and at some point it might actually join NATO.
Azerbaijan hosts approximately 1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Most of this natural gas is held by the Shah Deniz field, a natural gas field located in the Caspian Sea (red circle in the following map).
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Obviously the 1 trillion cubic meters of Azerbaijani natural gas is not a true rival for the 48 trillion cubic meters of Russian gas. Therefore the Americans need to use the reserves of one of the other countries of the region that are rich in natural gas, i.e. Iran, Iraq, Qatar or Turkmenistan, if they want to send natural gas to Europe (see the following map). The problem is that the Russians, with the help of the Chinese, are making this very difficult for the Americans and the Europeans.
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Iran is a Russian ally, and Iraq and Syria belong to the Iranian sphere of influence. Actually Syria is a Russian ally too. Moreover the Russians were buying the natural gas of Turkmenistan and selling it through Gazprom, until Turkmenistan was connected to China through pipeline networks and long term contracts. Moreover the Russians are trying to help Iran connect to China through the Iran-Pakistan-India-China pipeline, in order to send its natural gas to China, leaving the European market to Russia.
In the following RT (Russia Today) article, a news agency funded by the Russian state, titled “Iran-Pakistan lifeline: Pipeline aims for global power balance”, March 2013, you can read that Russia is an enthusiastic supporter of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline.
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The pipeline will bring more than simply an economic boost to both countries; it is a crucial guidepost on the path to peace. After generations of conflict, Iran and Pakistan are taking their economic destinies into their own hands - together.
http://rt.com/op-edge/gas-pipeline-pakistan-iran-068/
Russia wants to participate in the construction of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, as you can read in the following Itar-Tass article, titled “Russia interested in construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline”, September 2014. Itar-Tass is a news agency that belongs to the Russian Federation.
http://itar-tass.com/en/russia/750654
China also wanted to participate in the construction of the pipeline, as you can read in the following Times of Tehran article, titled “China to back Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project” , June 2012
http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/98622-china-to-back-iran-pakistan-gas-pipeline-project
In the following Wall Street Journal article, titled “Iran-Pakistan Pipeline Deal Irks U.S.”, February 2013, you can read that the pipeline is a big problem for the US, and the Americans are proposing to Pakistan, India and China the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, TAPI, as an alternative.
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In what has been widely perceived as a pre-election stunt, Pakistan has pushed ahead with a controversial pipeline deal with Iran – a move that has irritated the U.S. and that could lead to economic sanctions if Islamabad begins imports of Iranian gas.
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The U.S. has opposed the pipeline since its inception, promoting the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India pipeline as an alternative that keeps Iran firmly out of Asian energy markets.
Washington has made it clear that it will impose economic sanctions on Islamabad if it begins to buy gas from Iran. In a written reply to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad reiterated the U.S.‘s position stating: ―Our policy on Iran is well known. We have made it clear to all of our interlocutors around the world that it is in their interests to avoid activities that may be prohibited by UN sanctions or sanctionable under U.S. law.‖
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While the pipeline could bring relief to energy-starved Pakistan, analysts say that the deal reveals more about the geopolitical dynamics between the U.S., Pakistan and Iran than about the government‘s commitment to address the energy crisis.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/02/20/iran-pakistan-pipeline-deal-irks-u-s/
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In the end, with a generous loan from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan agreed to cancel the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, as you can read in the following Asia Times article, titled “Saudi grant kills Iran-Pakistan pipeline”, March 2014
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-02-210314.html
The Iran-Pakistan-India China Pipeline is a great geopolitical concern for the US, but it is an even bigger economic concern for the Saudis, because the Iranians and the Saudis are competing for the Indian, Pakistani and Chinese markets, and the Iran-Pakistan-India-China pipeline would give the Iranians a clear advantage over the Saudis, because the Saudis cannot connect to these countries by pipeline networks, and they have to use the sea lanes in order to export their oil.
You should not believe though, that the Americans are trying to block the pipeline because they want to sell to China and India themselves. By their efforts to normalize their relations with Iran, the Americans are causing severe problems in their relations with the Saudis, and all the American energy companies are working in Saudi Arabia. The Iran-Pakistan pipeline is a geopolitical concern for the US, while it is an economic concern for the Saudis. The truth is that the Americans need the Iranians, to counter the Russian influence in Europe.
However it is anyway difficult for the Iranians to supply Europe with sufficient quantities of natural gas right now, even if they reach an agreement with the West over their nuclear program. You might want to have a look at the following article of Trend, an Azeri site, titled “Delivering Iranian gas to EU unlikely, even in long time”, December 2014. The article explains that even if Iran is willing to supply Europe with natural gas, it will take many years of investments in order to bring the Iranian production to a level that would be adequate for the European demand.
http://en.trend.az/business/energy/2346522.html
Very often Iran does not even manage to cover its own natural gas needs, and imports more natural gas than it produces, as you can read in the following Reuters article, titled “Iran a net importer of gas from Mar 2011-Jan 2012”, January 2012.
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―Iran, holder of the world's second largest gas reserves, imported more natural gas than it exported over the last 10 months, Fars News Agency quoted the head of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) as saying.
The semi-official news service reported NIGC director Javad Oji saying Iran had imported nearly 9 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in the 10 months since the start of the Iranian year on March 21, 2011, up 35 percent year on year‖.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/iran-gas-imports-idAFL6E8CI2NZ20120118
Therefore even though the Iranians hold the second largest natural gas reserves in the world, it will take many years before they are ready to supply Europe, and that would be made much harder if in the meantime the Iranians were connected to China through pipelines and long term contracts, which is what the Russians are trying to do.
Another problem for the Americans is that as long as Iran is a Russian ally, and as long as Iraq and Syria belong to the Iranian sphere of influence, the Americans cannot even use the Qatari natural gas reserves to supply Europe through Turkey. A potential Qatar-Turkey pipeline would stop on a geographic “wall” formed by Iran, Iraq and Syria (see following map).
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By financing and supporting Jihadists, Turkey and Qatar are trying to break this “wall” in Syria and Iraq. The rebels in Syria and Iraq are also funded by Saudi Arabia, which feels threatened by the increasing Iranian influence in the region, since Iran is her most important rival in the Middle East. You can read in the following article of France 24, titled “Iraq's Maliki accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism”, March 2014, that the Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of funding the terrorists in Iraq.
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In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of supporting global ―terrorism‖ and seeking to destabilise Iraq.
http://www.france24.com/en/20140308-france24-exclusive-interview-iraq-maliki/
You can also read about the accusations of the Iraqi Prime Minister in the following Reuters article, titled “Iraqi PM Maliki says Saudi, Qatar openly funding violence in Anbar”, March 2014.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/09/us-iraq-saudi-qatar-idUSBREA2806S20140309
Therefore even though it is not easy for the Americans and the Europeans to send the Iranian natural gas to Europe, one should never forget that Iran is a natural competitor for Russia, and it would be very good for Iran to sell its natural gas and oil to Europe. Another reason the Iranians want to cut a deal with the West, is because the abolition of the western economic sanctions will allow the big Western multinationals to enter and invest in the Iranian energy market, which would dramatically increase the Iranian production and revenues, as you can read in the following Reuters article, titled “Iran lures oil majors with new contracts pledge”, January 2014.
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Iran will have a new, attractive investment model for oil contracts by September, its president and oil minister told some of the world's top oil executives here on Thursday, part of its drive to win back Western business. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said their new administration was keen to open up to Western investments and technology, executives who attended the meeting said. They also stressed the importance of fossil fuel, with global energy demand rising.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/us-iran-rouhani-davos-oil-idUSBREA0M0JD20140123
Gazprom is developing some Iranian fields, but Russia is a natural competitor of Iran, and she will never invest in Iran the way the Western multinationals would. Moreover the Western multinationals have superior technology, and they are the ones who revolutionized the production techniques that allowed the extraction of natural gas and oil from shale rock.