Russian Pipeline Transiting North Korea Somewhat Unlikely

There apparently is something about building pipelines that causes otherwise rational oilmen to indulge in reveries that would give an opium addict pause.

Two of the most recent ideas for pipelines with a less than rational basis are Nabucco (less than 25 percent of the necessary throughput committed thus far) and the Trans-Afghanistan-India-Pakistan pipeline (running through a country wracked by 32 years of civil war), with the past decade seeing NATO fruitlessly attempting pacification.

Now a third surreal energy corridor has been added, a proposed Russian-South Korean natural gas pipeline transiting Kim Jong-Il’s socialist paradise on the Yalu.

What is perhaps most extraordinary is that this line has been proposed by the Russians, normally a most pragmatic bunch.

In 2009, according to the CIA, South Korea imported 32.69 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and the country has paltry reserves of 50 billion cubic meters, which, assuming that they were fully exploited, would last the country for a mere 18 months or so before running out completely.

North Korea? According to the CIA’s 2010 estimates, natural gas reserves – zero, imports – again, zero. Full article at: Russian Pipeline Transiting North Korea Somewhat Unlikely