243
However, dislodging the US’ political dependence from the political stability of
foreign energy providers was a clear goal of the Obama Administration, alongside a
general retreat from the front lines and a renewed focus on post-2009 economic
recovery, and thus the advent of shale gas seemed like the perfect event to exploit.
This was successful to an extent unimaginable only a decade earlier, in that the US
found itself in a position to become a powerful LNG exporter to regions such as the
EU, and so rather than having to lobby oil states to develop pipelines to their allies,
could begin to consider supplying allies themselves. While the EU is still technically ill-equipped to rely on LNG imports, the rise of shale in the US has been a
relatively recent phenomenon which has led observers to ponder as to whether it
may lead the US to begin taking its role as a supplier seriously.
One interviewee for this study posits that the US is currently in a transitional
phase in terms of approach to energy right now and that it no longer makes sense to
pursue pipeline politics given the fact of LNG terminals. LNG is going to play
important role in the world gas market. Although Obama continued to support the
construction of the TAPI pipeline connecting the Shah Deniz to the European market, the private sector was not as responsive as was hoped, and shale—combined
with financial considerations, as well as questions over whether supplies would
amount to enough to make such a pipeline viable—made many drag their feet.
After all, Obama caught all conventional oil and gas producers in OPEC and
outside OPEC such as the Caspian basin literal states by surprise. Shale oil production surpassed well over 5.00 M/B/D in 2015, though it lost over 2.5 M/B/D of its
production volume by 2016. Shale oil flooded the market bringing down the price
of oil. Saudi played a key role in coordination, leading to many oil-producing countries in and outside OPEC to be hit rather hard, losing more than half the value of
their stocks.
By utilizing these new and advanced technologies, the US produced shale gas as
an unconventional source of energy, and not only met its own needs with gas, but
also appeared in the world energy market as a gas exporter. The new circumstances
meant the US could now compete with the other oil producers and, to some extent,
gas at global level. One cannot ignore the political impacts of the new developments
in the extraction of unconventional gas in US foreign relations. The extraction
reduced the US dependency on imported fossil fuels particularly from the Middle
East and Latin America. It also triggered some concerns particularly among the US
allies in the abovementioned regions that the new status might lead to some unsatisfactory policies and positions which would undermine the longstanding US political and military commitments to consult with or support them in regional affairs.
Concrete Results of the Obama Era
In terms of measurable diplomatic results, by the coming of Obama, it was clear that
Turkmenistan was not much interested in offering additional energy deals with the
US or EU, instead, working actively on a new pipeline with China as well as one
Concrete Results of the Obama Era
However, dislodging the US’ political dependence from the political stability of
foreign energy providers was a clear goal of the Obama Administration, alongside a
general retreat from the front lines and a renewed focus on post-2009 economic
recovery, and thus the advent of shale gas seemed like the perfect event to exploit.
This was successful to an extent unimaginable only a decade earlier, in that the US
found itself in a position to become a powerful LNG exporter to regions such as the
EU, and so rather than having to lobby oil states to develop pipelines to their allies,
could begin to consider supplying allies themselves. While the EU is still technically ill-equipped to rely on LNG imports, the rise of shale in the US has been a
relatively recent phenomenon which has led observers to ponder as to whether it
may lead the US to begin taking its role as a supplier seriously.
One interviewee for this study posits that the US is currently in a transitional
phase in terms of approach to energy right now and that it no longer makes sense to
pursue pipeline politics given the fact of LNG terminals. LNG is going to play
important role in the world gas market. Although Obama continued to support the
construction of the TAPI pipeline connecting the Shah Deniz to the European market, the private sector was not as responsive as was hoped, and shale—combined
with financial considerations, as well as questions over whether supplies would
amount to enough to make such a pipeline viable—made many drag their feet.
After all, Obama caught all conventional oil and gas producers in OPEC and
outside OPEC such as the Caspian basin literal states by surprise. Shale oil production surpassed well over 5.00 M/B/D in 2015, though it lost over 2.5 M/B/D of its
production volume by 2016. Shale oil flooded the market bringing down the price
of oil. Saudi played a key role in coordination, leading to many oil-producing countries in and outside OPEC to be hit rather hard, losing more than half the value of
their stocks.
By utilizing these new and advanced technologies, the US produced shale gas as
an unconventional source of energy, and not only met its own needs with gas, but
also appeared in the world energy market as a gas exporter. The new circumstances
meant the US could now compete with the other oil producers and, to some extent,
gas at global level. One cannot ignore the political impacts of the new developments
in the extraction of unconventional gas in US foreign relations. The extraction
reduced the US dependency on imported fossil fuels particularly from the Middle
East and Latin America. It also triggered some concerns particularly among the US
allies in the abovementioned regions that the new status might lead to some unsatisfactory policies and positions which would undermine the longstanding US political and military commitments to consult with or support them in regional affairs.
Concrete Results of the Obama Era
In terms of measurable diplomatic results, by the coming of Obama, it was clear that
Turkmenistan was not much interested in offering additional energy deals with the
US or EU, instead, working actively on a new pipeline with China as well as one
Concrete Results of the Obama Era