EU policy in shaping the pipeline architecture in the caspian region

The European Union (EU) energy policy in the Caspian Region that includes such littoral states as Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan took its shape gradually. The new data about availability of considerable hydrocarbon resources in the new Caspian states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan focused its growing attention on extraction and delivery of potential volumes of oil and natural gas to the European countries. And the European states initiated new pipeline projects. The energy diplomacy played an important role in creation of new energy flows that became an essential element of the shaping system of international relations in the Caspian Region. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.