Energy Cooperation between Import Dependent Countries: Cases of Italy and Turkey

Authors : Çiğdem ÜSTÜN

Pages : 71-90

View : 18 | Download : 7

Publication Date : 2011-04-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :As energy dependency increases in Europe, Turkey and Italy found it necessary to cooperate on pipeline projects to secure Europe’s energy supply and to increase their role as transit countries in the Mediterranean and southeast Europe. At the end of the 1990s Italian and Turkish energy companies started to collaborate on such projects as Blue Stream, SamsunCeyhan, and Interconnector Turkey-GreeceItaly ITGI . In these pipeline projects- both crude oil and natural gas- Russia has been a major player since it is one of the main energyproducing countries in the region and has a significant role in the energy policies of other energy-producing countries in the Caspian and the Caucasus. However, the competition among the regional countries in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean has decreased the effectiveness of the collaborative projects of Italy and Turkey. Thus it is argued that there is an urgent need for cooperation at the regional level- especially between Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Ukraine and Moldova- in order to secure the energy supply, and to diversify the routes and resources
Keywords : EU, energy dependency, regional cooperation, energy production, consuming and transit countries