Tuesday 8 April 2014, Amsterdam
The Europe, Middle East and Africa Region Plans to Make the Longest Oil and Gas Pipeline Additions by 2018
A total of 145,004.1 kilometers (km) (90,101.3 miles (mi)) of new-built oil and gas pipeline length is planned to be built across various regions of the world by 2018. More new pipelines will be built in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region than any other, totaling 58,981.9 km (36,649.6 mi) between 2014 and 2018, accounting for about 41% of the total global planned pipeline length additions during this period. For the purposes of this report, the global market has been split into three regions, EMEA, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific. The EMEA region has been considered to include Russia and most of the former Soviet Union countries (except Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), in addition to countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
North America and South and Central America (Americas) region accounts for 32% of the total global pipeline length additions planned by 2018. The Asia-Pacific region, with planned pipeline length addition of 39,321.0 km (24,432.9 mi), accounts for a 27% share of the planned pipeline length additions, worldwide, during this period.
Unconventional Production Growth and Energy Security Concerns Drive Pipeline Investments
Planned pipeline projects are driven by the fact that pipelines are a cost-effective means for transportation of crude oil, refined products and natural gas from producing areas to consumers. Besides this, investment in planned oil and gas pipeline length additions are driven by different regional factors across different regions of the world. Currently, investment in planned pipeline projects in the Americas is primarily driven by unprecedented growth in oil and gas output from unconventional sources such as shales and oil sands. In EMEA, investment in planned pipeline projects is driven primarily by planned diversification of gas sources by key consuming countries. In Asia-Pacific, pipeline investment is driven by the need for energy security by certain developing economies with rapidly growing energy consumption.
Progress of planned pipeline projects are often affected by environmental and geopolitical issues. Such issues have resulted into delays in a number of projects in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA. In the Americas, some of the planned pipelines meant to transport tar sands containing bitumen from Canada have been facing opposition by various environmental groups. Some such pipeline projects include Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline. According to the opposing groups, these pipelines may cause significant damage to the local ecosystem in the event of any oil spill or rupture. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline was also postponed due to geopolitical issues and opposition from the US. Despite this, Iran has completed its section of pipeline. It is yet to be seen if the recent improvements in US-Iran relations will allow the completion of this project.
ASDReports.com contact: S. Koomen
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