West (EU) looks to bypass Russia for energy - by Alex Spillius
Obscure republics of the former Soviet Union have taken centre stage in the new Cold War: the struggle to secure supplies of oil and natural gas. Last month, without much ceremony but with huge ambition, engineers in Azerbaijan opened the taps at the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea that should in the future supply western Europe. For now, it passes through Georgia into Turkey, circumventing two conflict zones, but, crucially, by--passing Russia altogether.
This month the EU issued a dramatic review of energy policy, which demanded cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and stressed the need for closer ties with central Asia and the Caucasus "to facilitate the transport of Caspian energy resources to the EU".
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