News Release
U.S. Military's Role with Petroleum Is to Assure Security
Jun 18, 2012
Promoting International Energy Security
Volume 2, Turkey and the Caspian
Download
Download eBook for Free
Full Document
| Format | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PDF file | 0.7 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience. |
Summary Only
| Format | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PDF file | 0.1 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience. |
Purchase
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add to Cart | Paperback64 pages | $21.00 | $16.80 20% Web Discount |
Research Questions
- What impediments are there to further development of Caspian oil and natural gas resources?
- In particular, what issues affect the transit of these resources within Turkey?
- Do shortfalls in energy security in Turkey and the Caspian present a foundation for capacity-building partnerships?
- How can the U.S. Air Force assist Turkey in attaining its objective of becoming an energy transit hub?
With its sizeable crude oil and natural gas reserves, the Caspian region is poised to become an increasingly important energy supplier to global markets. Competition over the development of Caspian's petroleum and largely untapped natural gas reserves and control over future export routes remains intense. Russia is seeking control over export routes for these oil and gas resources for its own commercial and political ends. But Russian influence is being challenged. New oil pipeline routes to China and to the Mediterranean via Turkey are being built. Turkey aspires to become a key transit state for moving both natural gas and oil from the Caspian region and from the broader Middle East via pipelines crossing its territory. U.S.-Turkish cooperation on energy security issues offers a promising yet modest opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relationship. Continued successful attacks on pipelines within Turkey by Kurdish terrorists suggest pipeline security as a potential area of U.S. Air Force engagement. In the Bosporus, U.S. disaster response capabilities and the lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico could prove useful for helping Turkish civilian and military leaders plan emergency responses to oil spills and other events that could block this critical waterway.
Key Findings
The Scope for Expanding U.S. Air Force-Led Cooperation with Caspian Energy Producers Is Limited
- USAF relationships with counterparts in the Caspian region and Central Asia are dominated by the need to preserve transit routes to Afghanistan. The countries with oil and natural gas resources need to maintain a delicate balance with the region's leading powers — Russia, China, Turkey, and Iran. As a result, there are inherent limitations to security cooperation with the United States. The focus of any cooperation activities is likely to remain on such activities as border control, maritime security, and emergency response. Azerbaijan is a potential exception, given its desire to deepen security ties with the United States and to lessen the effects of longstanding congressional restrictions on aid.
U.S. Air Force Engagement with Turkey on Energy Security Looks Promising
- Turkey continues to be an important U.S. ally. The U.S. Air Force has established important relationships with its Turkish counterparts through extensive cooperation to deal with Kurdish terrorist threats emanating from Northern Iraq. This track record, coupled with the likely increasing importance of energy security to Turkey's leaders, could create a promising yet modest opportunity to strengthen these relationships. Thus far, military cooperation in energy security has largely consisted of informal talks at the senior leader and staff levels, but these interactions could expand, and the topics could extend beyond pipeline security to include reducing vulnerabilities in the Bosporus and applying lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Related Products
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
Overview of Current Energy Issues
Chapter Three
Key Energy Security Challenges
Chapter Four
Threats to Energy Production and Transit Routes
Chapter Five
Current U.S. Energy Security Efforts
Chapter Six
Potential U.S. Air Force Roles
Research conducted by
The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Air Force and conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation technical report series. RAND technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.