시리아 위기와 석유․가스 파이프라인 경쟁

The Crisis of Syria and the Competition of Oil and Gas Pipe Lines:The Repairing of Old Pipeline and the New Pipeline Construction

The major cause of the crisis of Syria is the struggle for securing the oil and gas pipeline network. In 2009, Syrian President Bashar Assad announced the “Four Sea Strategy” which would seem to cause the change of regional political and economic hegemony. The policy concerns the jurisdiction and the huge custom fee of the regional gas pipelines that pass through Syria. Pipeline construction is not a new issue and has been a business since the 1930s when the first construction of oil pipelines of the Middle East started. The final destinations of the oil were Europe and the United States. Transportation by oil pipelines is 40% cheaper than shipping, thus relatively very cheap. The final destination of the gas pipeline under construction in the 21st century is also Europe. In the rate of transportation cost, gas transportation by pipelines has a decided advantage over oil transportation. Currently, repairing of old pipelines and the construction of new pipelines are very important issues in the Middle East. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the old oil pipelines of the 20th century and a new gas pipeline network under construction of the 21st century in order to understand the Syrian crisis. This paper seeks to forecast the current situation in the region by analyzing the oil and gas pipeline networks related to Syria since the 20th century.