Trend News Agency quotes Eurasian Energy Futures Initiative Nonresident Senior Fellow Micha’el Tanchum on how the Trans-Caspian Pipeline project will affect diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Russia:
Tanchum told Trend that with Turkmenistan possessing the fourth largest known natural gas reserves in the world, the export of large volumes of Turkmen natural gas to Europe in addition to Asia would be nothing short of a revolution in the natural gas flows in Eurasia.
[…]
The proposal to construct only one string in the near future may be a clever attempt to make the pipeline less threatening to Russia, Tanchum believes. “Would Russia want to further antagonize the EU and Turkey over 5 billion cubic meters per year? The answer to that question depends on Moscow but also on how much Brussels is willing to back up its desire for Turkmen gas with a strong political commitment,” Tanchum said.