Alternative suppliers and supply routes for the European Union natural gas market: can Turkey be a transiting state?

The European Union (EU) is one of the world's largest energy importer; and import two thirds of its gas needs from non-EU sources. Every day the need for imported gas increases and by 2030 the EU is expected to import 74 percent of its natural gas from non-EU sources. The growing dependency on natural gas is a threat for the EU both environmentally, especially with respect to climate change, and politically as it creates a high dependency on the natural gas suppliers. Hence, diversification of suppliers and the supply routes are the most important issues for the Union to ensure energy security. The EU supports the Southern Corridor projects which foresee the transportation of the natural gas reserves from the Caspian and the Central Asian region with possible addition of Middle Eastern and North African gas via Turkey. This thesis sets out the current and the potential new suppliers and routes to the EU and the possible role of Turkey in supplying gas to Europe. In order to achieve this aim, this study examines the EU's gas market as well as the potential supplier countries' markets and future projects regarding gas transmission. On the basis of these analyses, conclusions will be drawn regarding transportation of the future supplies to Europe and the possible role of Turkey as a transit country.