UPDATE: The most flammable gas pipelines in the world
Latest Developments:
Governments, analysts, and media outlets are continuing to follow this situation closely as additional details become available.
Once discreet industrial infrastructures, gas pipelines have become in less than thirty years the veins of global geopolitics, both strategic and flammable. While Russian President Vladimir Putin was received in Beijing on Wednesday by his counterpart Xi Jinping, he was unable to get him to sign the “Siberian Force 2” gas pipeline project, which is crucial for Moscow. This project aims to connect the largest Russian natural gas reserves in northern Siberia to China. It would open an outlet for Russian hydrocarbons, abandoned by Europe following the invasion of Ukraine. But its realization is slow. And if the two leaders say they have made “progress” this week, Vladimir Putin returned to Moscow empty-handed. From the Baltic Sea to Central Asia via the Americas, return, in our map, to the most important gas pipelines in the world, which have sometimes shaken world diplomacy. By clicking on “I accept”, you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners. More information on the page Management policy cookiesI acceptNord Stream, or the break between Russia and EuropeDesigned to connect Russia’s Siberian reserves to Germany, via the Baltic Sea, the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines were to embody the economic interdependence between Moscow and the countries of the European Union. But the steel took on a political color. In February 2022, on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Berlin suspended authorization for Nord Stream 2 which had been completed. And in September 2022, underwater explosions partially destroyed both infrastructures. The sabotage marks the end of thirty years of German-Russian energy diplomacy, and plunges Europe into a race for alternatives.Sabotage foiled on the Balkan Stream in SerbiaThe Balkan Stream is the extension of TurkStream which passes under the Black Sea. It transports Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary. On April 5, 2026, backpacks containing explosives were found near the gas pipeline route in Serbia. The country is largely dependent since the vast majority of its gas comes from Russia, for a price much lower than the market price in Europe. A candidate for membership in the European Union, Serbia is one of the rare countries on the continent not to have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.The Bratstvo and Soyuz gas pipelines and the “gas war”The historic gas axis between Russia and Europe passes through the Ukrainian plains, via the Soviet Bratstvo and Soyuz networks. The history of these pipelines is punctuated by crises. In 2006 and then in 2009, against a backdrop of tariff disputes and political tensions between Moscow and kyiv, the Russian giant Gazprom suddenly cut the floodgates. In the middle of winter, millions of homes in the Balkans and Central Europe find themselves without heating. This “gas war” serves as a catalyst. The projects, supported by Russia, of Nord Stream in the north, and TurkStream in the south, aim to avoid Ukraine. Transmed, the new lung of post-Ukraine Europe Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022 and the gradual cessation of imports of Russian gas to Europe, the Transmed gas pipeline has become a strategic lifeline for European countries. Rome has signed important agreements with Algiers to maximize its use. Algeria has thus become the leading gas supplier to the Italian peninsula, covering more than 30% of its needs. But life on a gas pipeline is not a long, quiet river. Tunisia hosts 370 kilometers of this gas pipeline on its soil, and for this collects a fee representing 5.25% of the volume of gas. In a period of soaring global gas prices, this tax on transit has become crucial for Tunis’ public finances. If some in the country want an upward revision of rights of way, Algiers is against it. Furthermore, Algeria and Italy hope to realize the GALSI project, a gas pipeline which would connect the Algerian coast to Sardinia, avoiding Tunisia. If the project is slow to come to fruition, its mere mention serves as a tool of diplomatic pressure in the Algiers-Tunis-Rome triangular negotiations. Read the articles in the War in Ukraine section Environmental and indigenous protest in America If gas sparks territorial wars in Eurasia, the stakes are different in North America. The debate on this continent has shifted to the climate emergency and the rights of indigenous peoples. In 2020, in Canada, the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, in the west of the country, was the origin of a vast social conflict. Demonstrations were organized for several weeks in several regions of the country. Some Indigenous officials in British Columbia have blocked the project on the grounds that it crosses their ancestral lands. They were also concerned about the environmental impacts of the project. In 2023, the developer TC Energy announced the end of construction of this controversial 670-kilometer gas pipeline. In the United States, major projects such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline were abandoned under legal and activist pressure from environmental movements.
What Happens Next:
Officials and international observers are expected to continue monitoring the story closely over the coming days.
Political and economic analysts are paying close attention to the potential consequences of these events.
More details may emerge as official sources continue releasing new information.
Source: This article was originally published by 20Minutes – Actu Monde and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.