The geographical mismatch between energy demand and the availability of energy resources means that many countries rely on energy imports
The flows of energy from producer to consumer are the pathways
In physical terms, the pathways take the form of gas and oil pipelines,
the sea routes of tankers carrying oil and gas, and electricity power lines
Europe, Asia and the Asia-Pacific region are now heavily reliant on energy imports
Since the early 1990s there has been a significant increase in the exports of
fuels, particularly from the middle east, Africa and the former Soviet Union
Oil and gas
In the case of oil, there is a complex global pattern of pathways and players
The middle east exports around 15,000 barrels per fay, mainly to Japan, Europe and China
Substantial amounts flow from Africa, Europe, Canada and South and central America to the USA
Russia supplies some oil to China, but the bulk of its exports now head in the direction of Europe
Gas pathways are different in that they tend to be localised and regional rather than global
This is because natural gas has traditionally been transported through pipelines, whereas oil is mainly shipped
It is likely that, as delivery via pipelines becomes less dependable for political reasons, there will be a switch towards shipping gas in tankers as liquified natural gas
One of the most
significant gas
pathways is the
trans-Siberian pipeline,
the main conveyor of
Russian natural gas
exports
The Russian section of this pipeline is operated by the Gazprom
corporation, but its monopoly is being challenged by a new pipeline
Europe's gas pipeline war
The Nabucco pipeline, first planned in 2004, will transport natural gas over 3,000km from the Caspian region to Austria via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary
Construction is expected to start in 2010 and be completed by 2013 at a cost of €8 billion
The European Union and Russia are involved in a battle over a pipeline aimed at diversifying Europe's energy imports
The Nabucco pipeline will be supplied with gas from Iran, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Egypt and Syria
It will deliver a huge amount of gas, making the EU much less dependent on Russian supplies
Russia's reliability as a supplier has been in doubt since it temporarily shut
off the gas supply to Ukraine in January 2006
Clearly, it is in the EU's interests to diversify its gas imports
Iran and Syria remain politically unstable and the central Asian countries have also promised huge amounts of gas to China and Russia
Coal
There are also coal pathways from countries as far apart as Australia and Poland
At the moment, far less coal is moved than oil and gas
However, there is a prospect of greater movements of coal, if only because
supplies seem more dependable and less threatened by geopolitical considerations