Politics Tangles New Oil & Gas Pipeline Projects

“Happiness is multiple pipelines”, was a car-bumper sticker distributed by Americans in oil-producer Kazakhstan in the 1990s that highlights the energy-hungry West’s desire to boost oil and gas supply routes.

But building pipelines – especially privately backed ones — often means tackling political or environmental obstacles that can take years to resolve.

“When you have multiple ownership pipelines crossing several borders it’s quite often difficult to get a political consensus to get these projects either completed or expanded,” said David Fyfe, economist at the International Energy Agency.

Energia