155
As Head of “Energy Resources at the State Department,” Amos Hochstein played
a key role in energy diplomacy in the Caspian, traveling to the region and engaging
in meetings with energy ministers focusing on the Southern Gas Corridor. Hochstein
repeated US statements of support for the project, before setting 2018 as the year in
which the first gas would arrive in Turkey, and 2019–2020 scheduling its first arrival
in Europe via the completion of the TANAP and TAP lines. Hochstein was open
about the project’s importance for both allies and the US itself in terms of energy
security vis-à-vis Russia:
Affordable and reliable energy is a fundamental element of economic growth, and diversity is a key element of a nation’s energy security. In this context, diversity means diversity of fuel type, as well as diversity of source and supplier. The Southern Gas Corridor
will provide Europe a new source and route of supply for natural gas, which is one of
Europe’s main sources of energy. An economically strong and more energy-secure Europe
is in the interest of the United States, which is one of the reasons we strongly support the
Southern Gas Corridor. On the other hand, a second line of Turkish Stream (should it be
approved and Russia secure additional contracts in Europe) would bring more Russian gas
to Europe without enhancing security of supply and could block the expansion of the
Southern Gas Corridor, thereby preventing the export of additional gas from Azerbaijan.
(www.trend.az 2015)
This “on the other hand” is crucial in understanding how diversity, in the eyes of
US policymakers, is synonymous with a lowering of dependency on Russian gas.
The Southern Gas Corridor is undoubtedly the best alternative to the Northern
Stream 2 project and the best means for the EU to reduce its dependency on Russian
gas. In a press briefing as late as the summer of 2016 Hochstein further stated support not just for the acceleration of the Southern Gas Corridor, but;
The acceleration of the LNG terminal in Croatia and in Greece as well as the IGB, Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria projects. (www.trend.az 2015)
He added that:
The United States is deeply concerned about a pipeline that would endanger the economic
viability of Ukraine and Slovakia, that would deepen the rift between east and west, and
freezing in time for another generation, and that wouldn’t move the overall energy security
concerns and energy union concerns significantly backwards. (www.trend.az 2015)
US–Azerbaijan Relations
Section 907 Freedom Support Act of 1992 outlined that, given outstanding hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the US would forbid further financial aid to
the latter, thereby causing tension in US–Azerbaijani relations which would only
heal with the addition of a clause allowing the president to waiver the act as of
October 2001. After approval by the Senate, as soon as December 2001, the House
of Representatives voted to approve authorizing the president to abrogate the
requirements of the act—an approval which has been granted annually ever since
despite no efforts to annul the act itself. The US decision to tacitly accept Armenia’s
Obama, Southern Gas Corridor, and Azerbaijan
As Head of “Energy Resources at the State Department,” Amos Hochstein played
a key role in energy diplomacy in the Caspian, traveling to the region and engaging
in meetings with energy ministers focusing on the Southern Gas Corridor. Hochstein
repeated US statements of support for the project, before setting 2018 as the year in
which the first gas would arrive in Turkey, and 2019–2020 scheduling its first arrival
in Europe via the completion of the TANAP and TAP lines. Hochstein was open
about the project’s importance for both allies and the US itself in terms of energy
security vis-à-vis Russia:
Affordable and reliable energy is a fundamental element of economic growth, and diversity is a key element of a nation’s energy security. In this context, diversity means diversity of fuel type, as well as diversity of source and supplier. The Southern Gas Corridor
will provide Europe a new source and route of supply for natural gas, which is one of
Europe’s main sources of energy. An economically strong and more energy-secure Europe
is in the interest of the United States, which is one of the reasons we strongly support the
Southern Gas Corridor. On the other hand, a second line of Turkish Stream (should it be
approved and Russia secure additional contracts in Europe) would bring more Russian gas
to Europe without enhancing security of supply and could block the expansion of the
Southern Gas Corridor, thereby preventing the export of additional gas from Azerbaijan.
(www.trend.az 2015)
This “on the other hand” is crucial in understanding how diversity, in the eyes of
US policymakers, is synonymous with a lowering of dependency on Russian gas.
The Southern Gas Corridor is undoubtedly the best alternative to the Northern
Stream 2 project and the best means for the EU to reduce its dependency on Russian
gas. In a press briefing as late as the summer of 2016 Hochstein further stated support not just for the acceleration of the Southern Gas Corridor, but;
The acceleration of the LNG terminal in Croatia and in Greece as well as the IGB, Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria projects. (www.trend.az 2015)
He added that:
The United States is deeply concerned about a pipeline that would endanger the economic
viability of Ukraine and Slovakia, that would deepen the rift between east and west, and
freezing in time for another generation, and that wouldn’t move the overall energy security
concerns and energy union concerns significantly backwards. (www.trend.az 2015)
US–Azerbaijan Relations
Section 907 Freedom Support Act of 1992 outlined that, given outstanding hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the US would forbid further financial aid to
the latter, thereby causing tension in US–Azerbaijani relations which would only
heal with the addition of a clause allowing the president to waiver the act as of
October 2001. After approval by the Senate, as soon as December 2001, the House
of Representatives voted to approve authorizing the president to abrogate the
requirements of the act—an approval which has been granted annually ever since
despite no efforts to annul the act itself. The US decision to tacitly accept Armenia’s
Obama, Southern Gas Corridor, and Azerbaijan