Russia's Energy War 'Failed', U.S. Says, Hails 'Critical Partners' in North Africa, Caspian, Central Asia

The Biden administration’s top diplomat overseeing energy policy said on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin's attempt to weaponize its energy resources against Ukraine and the world "has failed" and that European countries will not return to purchasing Russian fossil energy sources in the future, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The U.S. and its European allies are instead eyeing Central Asian, Caspian, North African countries as potential critical new partners in their effort to prioritize renewable energy resources while bolstering their energy security.

"In the case of Europe, the option of gas from Azerbaijan has been an important part of the equation," Geoffrey Pyatt, assistant secretary of State for energy resources, told TURAN's Washington correspondent.

"...We welcome, of course, the agreement also between President Aliyev and President von der Leyen to increase further those imports from Azerbaijan, and I’m aware that there have already been efforts to increase some of the flows through the Southern Gas Corridor even while the EU works through the regulatory aspects of further increasing the capacity of that pipeline network," he said.

Pyatt was speaking to reporters during a briefing organized by the State Department's Washington Foreign Press Center to discuss the recent meeting of the EU-US Energy Council in Brussels, first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"... Something that was so clear to me in our conversations in Brussels, which is the decoupling of Europe from Russian energy supplies and the reorientation of the European energy economy towards reliable, trustworthy global partners, including significantly the United States but also critical partners as well in North Africa, in the Caspian region, and elsewhere," he said.

Asked by TURAN how much of countries', such as Azerbaijan's, independence from Russian influence is also a part of the deal to cement their reliance on the European markets in the long term, Pyatt said, in general, they see the resources in countries like Azerbaijan – as well as the countries of Central Asia —  an "important part of the contribution" to overall global energy supplies, and "the United States is committed to being a strong partner."

He went on to add, "But doing so – as I emphasized in my remarks and as we emphasized so strongly in the Energy Council meeting – in a way that ensures the smallest possible carbon footprint for those energy resources, which means additional investments in abatement, in measures to combat venting and flaring, and new investments in areas like carbon sequestration, which can help to minimize the damaging climate impacts of these energy resources."

According to him, there are other sources as well that loom large as the Western allies look to the future. "We’re very excited to support the options for bringing additional quantities of gas from the Eastern Mediterranean. Of course we have American companies significantly invested in that region as well. I’ve had these conversations with Cyprus, with Israel, with Egypt. I had the opportunity in Houston to meet with the energy minister of Algeria, another country with significant capacity to quickly increase its gas exports to Europe based on existing infrastructure, existing pipeline networks. Similarly we are supportive of the efforts that Italy has made to increase possibilities for imports from Libya."

He added, "So I think what we’re looking at over the next few years is the continued diversification away from Russia, in the case of Europe through a variety of different sources."

In the meantime, the Assistant Secretary said, the consequences of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine have been felt around the world. "I have seen this in my visits to India, my visits to Pakistan, my visits to Korea, to Japan – all countries that have been directly impacted by the spike in global energy prices that Russia is responsible for, and all countries that are looking to diversify and accelerate their energy transitions."

So even as Europe diversifies, there is going to be additional demand from other parts of the world, including in the developing countries. In the meantime, one thing is clear that Russia’s weaponization of its resources has also ironically accelerated the investment in Europe in renewables and, as the Assistant Secretary put it,  "helped to advance our shared commitment to our climate goals."

"We... recognize that clean technology supply chains remain vulnerable to disruption if China continues to monopolize everything from critical minerals to hydrogen electrolyzers and solar power components. But we also sense that there’s a great opportunity for the U.S. nand Europe to do more to build out these supply chains and to develop new technologies together," he said.

"We have a clear understanding as well that LNG is going to remain an important transition fuel for the European Union, as it is for the United States.  But we need to work together globally to lower the carbon footprint of that gas.  We will need to improve in particular methane capture, especially in countries that still vent or flare a significant portion of the gas that they produce," he concluded.

Alex Raufoglu