Abstract:

There is no serious research denying that EU's energy sector will become increasingly reliant on imports. In particular, Europe's vulnerability in its dependence on Russian gas and oil is obvious. One of the most important energy security challenges facing the EU over the years to come will be its ability to diversify the sources and modes of transit of its energy imports. The EU could try to use the massive potential of the Central Asia and Caspian Region (CACR) as an energy supplier. However, nearly two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union there are still only a few routes for bringing energy resources from the region to Europe. The Nabucco pipeline is the EU's flagship project with regard to the CACR, but Russia does its best to derail it. Furthermore, the article outlines some other crucial aspects of the energy policy in and around the CACR as well as the possible impacts of shale gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Keywords: