BLACK SEA SUMMIT IN ISTANBUL FOCUSES ON EU RELATIONS, ENERGY ISSUES

AP Worldstream
Published: Jun 25, 2007

Leaders and officials from 12 Black Sea countries discussed relations
with the European Union and regional energy routes during their annual
summit on Monday in Istanbul.

The Black Sea Economic Cooperation, or BSEC, founded 15 years ago,
is aiming to boost its energy sector, particularly as the EU seeks
to diversify its energy routes and supplies.

Many BSEC countries are also in the EU, while others such as Turkey
are negotiating membership. The BSEC members’ combined oil and gas
reserves are second only to those of Persian Gulf countries, it says.

This year’s summit was the first to which the European Union sent
a representative.

"Common projects with the European Union and the reforms by the
organization are the two most significant successes of this summit,"
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said.

The EU is encouraging BSEC projects to build a highway around the
Black Sea to connect member countries and increase regional trade,
as well as several pipeline projects to bring Caspian Sea oil and
natural gas to the West.

Later Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was joining the
summit meetings, which also included officials from Turkey, Greece,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia,
Moldavia and Romania. On Tuesday, the bloc’s energy ministers open
a three-day energy conference.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he supported
cooperation with other international organizations, and that the
"dialogue with the European Union is encouraging." Erdogan’s comments,
made at a closed-door meeting, were provided to journalists by BSEC
officials.

A founding BSEC member, Turkey has initiated pipeline projects to
become an energy corridor between the oil- and gas-rich Caspian
region and energy-hungry Western markets. An oil pipeline from Baku,
Azerbaijan, through Georgia and on to Ceyhan, Turkey’s Mediterranean
oil hub, was opened last year.

Construction of another pipeline that will carry Kazakh and Russian
oil from the Black Sea coast to Ceyhan started in April and is expected
to be operational in 2009.

However, Turkey’s energy projects face financial questions and steep
competition from Russia, which has assumed a central role in energy
supply to Europe. Russia has projects or studies under way linking
energy sources from the Black Sea and Caspian Sea to the European
Union through Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and Hungary.

The EU imports more than 40 percent of its natural gas, and almost
half of this comes from Russia. Some central and eastern European
countries depend almost entirely on Russian gas.

The United States applauded the Black Sea group’s efforts to expand its
energy sector and build new routes for exporting supplies to the West.

"Diverse energy sources will be good for economic growth and security
of energy supplies," U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson said, attending the
summit as an observer.

The combined population of BSEC countries is some 350 million.