Tensions rise in energy rich Central Asia

Analysts say to expect more energy deals – and potential trouble – in the quickly militarizing region.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It’s got all the makings of an international geopolitical thriller: World powers move their armies into a violent, remote, and politically fragile region brimming with valuable oil and natural gas resources; except it’s not fiction.

Central Asia is the scene of this powerplay. Europe is maneuvering to satisfy its energy needs while it cuts greenhouse gas emissions. China and India need the region’s reserves to quench their booming economies’ thirst for fuel. Meanwhile, the U.S. is challenging Russia’s traditional control of the region’s gas reserves – which are large – but not large enough for everyone.


Tense jockeying is underway – complete with corporate intrigue, diplomacy, and guns – as the United States, the European Union, Russia, China and India all vie for the right to build huge pipelines to get the oil and massive natural gas reserves out of the remote nations of Central Asia.

The latest twist in this power play came earlier this year, when Russia secured a long-term contract to buy a big chunk of natural gas from Tajikistan, which has one of the largest reserves in the world. But undaunted, other nations’ plans for more pipelines – and military bases – proceed.

“The increasing Asian interest suggests the region is open for other deals,” said Katherine Hardin, senior director of Russian and Caspian energy at Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

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