Leo Savin: Syria oil perspective

 

No matter what else is said about the causes of the conflict in Syria, there is no denying that among them is the fundamental fact of how it is connected with petropolitics and the interests of  global capital. Now let's step aside from flood of discussions about the tactics of guerrilla warfare and analysis formed of the situation with the methods of propaganda through Social Networks and hidden religious motives and look at these energy concerns.

The state of affairs of the regional powers, which are the most important players in energy politics present Iraq and Iran on one side of the conflict and Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the other. Syria lies in a strategic position amidst possible regional infrastructure projects, and trunk pipelines that could link the region of the greater Middle East to Western Europe.

Simple geography determines that Syria is in a more advantageous position for this pupose than Turkey through which the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline lies. The south Caucasus is even further north and the Russian Federation has strategic interests there.

So, Syria is the only fall-back position as an alternative for a transit country. Besides having its own oil fields, Syria's leadership is quite aware of the importance of their country's geographic location.

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