A leading academic has said that oil and gas pipelines are an excellent way for countries to forge links with each other and develop better relationships.
Qatar newspaper The Peninsula reported that Dr Saleem Hassan Ali, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Centre, an educational establishment that studies geopolitical issues in the Middle East, believes that such ventures can prove instrumental in providing incentives for better cooperation.
“Oil and gas pipelines cannot only foster cooperation when they are established but they can also sustain cooperation, because when you have that infrastructure linkage you do have more of an incentive to cooperate,” Dr Ali is reported by the newspaper as saying.
Geopolitics of pipelines is a subject that has produced few studies in the past and Dr Ali’s forthcoming report is said to cover the vast majority of cross-state international pipelines in the region. The study will reportedly recommend that focus should remain on efficiency and security when transporting hydrocarbons.
“Pipelines may be a means of attaining such an efficient outcome and deserve to be appropriately pursued even if they involve international transit,” Dr Ali is reported as saying.
“Governance mechanisms and security regimens have developed to the level whereby pipelines are a viable option for gas consuming countries to consider,” he added.
