Transneft’s Role In Russia’s Energy Designs

In April, the Russian oil-pipeline monopoly Transneft announced that it had decided to support the construction of a new overland oil pipeline from the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea to the Greek port of Alexandroupoli on the Aegean.

The long-anticipated decision has significant implications.

For one thing, it allows Russia to kill two birds with one stone as it seeks to expand its delivery of oil supplies to the global market.

The overland route will allow Russian oil to overcome recent restrictions on the passage of oil tankers through Turkey’s Bosporus Straight while providing a viable alternative to an optional route — the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which was heavily lobbied by the West as a means to bypass Russian territory and strengthen Western influence in Central Asia.

For another, if the Burgas-Alexandroupoli favors Russian supplies, it could have serious consequences for the West’s efforts to secure alternative energy supplies in the short term.

Radio Free Europe