№ 5 (49), 2011 - KazEnergy

kazenergy forumGeopolitics of EurasianEnergy: Challengesand New FrontiersToday the world of energy is experiencing huge change andchallenges. It is evident that energy markets are becomingmore and more globalised.СSelimKuneralp,Chairman of theEnergy CharterConferenceonventional fossil fuelsare depleting; and climatechange provokes us to developand seek new sourcesof energy. In the meantime,the Fukushima accident hashalted the so-called nuclearrenaissance of the earlyyears of this millennium.Moreover, hydrocarbon productionhas experienced acertain slowdown due tothe events surrounding theArab Spring earlier thisyear.According to the International Energy Agency;we are about to live through a golden ageof gas. More and more players are now involvedon the energy markets. Internationalcompanies, national companies, states,NGOs, all have a stake in the developmentsof the global energy scene. This turmoilbrings many challenges that must be met.However, I shall sum them up in one question;how shall we create reliable interdependencebetween the energy actors in orderto be prepared for the energy challenges oftomorrow?To answer that, I will turn in part to the EnergyCharter Treaty. The Energy Charterpolitical declaration was signed in December1991; between what is now the EU and whatwas then the USSR. However the Charternow involves more than 50 states includingKazakhstan and other CIS countries, theEU, Japan, Turkey, Australia and others.The Energy Charter Treaty was developedon the basis of the 1991 Energy Charter.Whereas the latter document was drawnup as a declaration of political intent to promoteenergy cooperation, the Energy Char-26 № 5 (49), 2011