Central Asia And The EU’S Drive Towards Energy Diversification

In recent years, Central Asia has increasingly come under the focus of the European Union (EU). This development occurred not least due to a series of interruptions in the supply of Russian natural gas to the EU. The negative effects these supply cuts had on Gazprom?s perceived reliability as a supplier caused the Union to gradually step up its efforts towards energy diversification in the region. However, competition over supplies is fierce, as Russia and China are equally intensifying their efforts. Several large-scale initiatives are currently underway or have reached completion, including the EU backed Nabucco pipeline, Russia?s South Stream project and the Turkmenistan-China pipeline. Through an extensive consultation among key-stakeholders involved, the paper provides a thorough analysis of the current status of EU-Central Asian energy relations and their major challenges.