Transport of central Asia's oil and gas to western markets
Doc. 7597
27 June 1996
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
presented by Mr AK�ALI and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it
1. The Assembly reaffirms that the Council of Europe, together with other international organisations, has an important role to play in the field of developing and observing high standards of environmental housekeeping in Europe.
2. The Assembly notes once again that the preservation of the uniqueness of landscapes, ecosystems and species, which are reflective of the inherent economic and cultural values of member states, call for a pan-European strategy.
3. In this context, the Assembly draws attention to the current process of developing export routes for oil and gas to be extracted from Central Asian oil fields and transported to western markets.
4. The Assembly welcomes the recent decision of the Azeri Oil Consortium on 9 October 1995 to diversify its export outlets by selecting two simultaneous routes from Baku: one North to Novorossiisk and the other West to Soupsa in Georgia, for the so-called "early oil" from the Azeri off-shore fields. It notes that the final decision about the main export route for the Azeri Consortium Oil is expected to be taken in 1997.
5. The Assembly further notes that Kazakhs and Turkmen are similarly in search of outlets to route the Tengiz and Turkmen oil-gas to the markets in the West.
In this regard, it recalls that Russia, Kazakhstan and Oman have lately reached an agreement to the effect that the Tengiz oil and gas would be transported through Russia pipelines to the Black Sea.
6. The Assembly feels deep concern for the present condition of the Russian oil pipeline network inherited from the Soviet Union which was laid during the past twenty years and is reportedly in a state of widespread decay because of inadequate maintenance.
It therefore fears that if the Russian pipeline to Novorossiisk is selected as the main export outlet it will add a new burden to the already degraded ecological set-up on the territories of the former Soviet Union.
7. The Assembly further fears that routing the Central Asian oil to the Black Sea will increase the risk of ecological disasters in the Turkish straits since the oil transported to a port in the Black Sea should inevitably traverse the Bosphorous and the Dardanelles which are known to be inadequate for even the present volume of tanker traffic passing through them.
The Assembly notes that routing the Central Asian oil via the Turkish straits will increase eightfold the tanker traffic in the said waterways and thereby it will not only cause disruptions in navigation but also render the historic and populous cities of Istanbul and �anakkale vulnerable to grave human and ecological disasters and endanger the invaluable historic monuments in these cities.
8. The Assembly therefore calls on the governments of the Council of Europe member states :
i) to devote urgent attention to the energy exportation needs of the Central Asian States;
ii) to induce the interested parties to give a serious attention to the "Caspian-Mediterranean Pipeline Project" as a viable alternative to export routes to the Black Sea.
Signed[1]:
Ak�ali, Turkey, EDG
Demiralp, Turkey, LDR
G�rel, Turkey, SOC
Behrendt, Germany, SOC
Tanik, Turkey, EDG
Zierer, Germany, EPP
Hardy, United Kingdom, SOC
Woltjer, Netherlands, SOC
Plattner, Switzerland, SOC
Onaindia, Spain, SOC
Motiu, Romania, EDG
Naoumova, Bulgaria, SOC
Korakas, Greece, UEL
Ciemniak, Poland, SOC
Szyma_ski, Poland, SOC
Y�r�r, Turkey, EDG
Din�er, Turkey, SOC
Aytaman, Turkey, EDG
Theis, Luxembourg, EPP
Coss�-Brissac de, France, LDR
[1] SOC : Socialist Group
EPP : Group of the European People's Party
EDG : European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group
UEL : Group of the Unified European Left