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Balkans
(Last Updated: February 2006)
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The Balkans region--here including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro (ex-Yugoslavia)--is recovering from over a decade of conflict and instability as a result of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. As the region stabilizes, the Balkans may play an important role as a transit center for Russian and Caspian Sea region oil exports.
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Baltic Sea Regional Factsheet
(Last Updated: July 2006)
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Although only minor energy producers and consumers, the Baltic states--including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania--occupy a strategic location as transit centers for Russia's northern oil exports.
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European Union
(Last Updated: January 2006)
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The European Union, with its increasingly integrated economies and energy sectors, is the world's second-largest energy consumer behind the United States
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France
(Last Updated: April 2007)
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France is one of the world's largest nuclear power producers, but has limited fossil fuel resources.
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Germany
(Last Updated: December 2006)
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Germany is one of the world's largest energy consumers. Because the country has limited domestic energy resources (except for coal), Germany imports most of its energy needs.
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Greece
(Last Updated: August 2006)
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Greece is an important potential transit site for energy exports from the Caspian/Caucasus regions, with limited energy reserves of its own.
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Iberian Peninsula
(Last Updated: July 2007)
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Consisting of Spain and Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula has limited energy resources. Both countries must import almost all of their energy needs.
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Italy
(Last Updated: May 2007)
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Italy is one of the world's largest economies and a founding member of both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The country is almost entirely dependent on imports to meet its energy needs.
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North Sea
(Last Updated: January 2007)
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The North Sea contains Western Europe's largest oil and natural gas reserves and is one of the world's key non-OPEC producing regions.
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North-Central Europe
(Last Updated: February 2006)
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North Central Europe is important to world energy markets because it is a key transit point for Russian oil and natural gas pipelines.
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Norway
(Last Updated: August 2006)
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Norway is a major non-OPEC source of oil and was the world's third largest net oil exporter in 2002. Norway is the second-largest natural gas exporter to western Europe.
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Southeastern Europe
(Last Updated: August 2006)
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The countries of Southeastern Europe-- Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova-- occupy a strategic location on the Black Sea, exporting electricity through the Balkans and transporting Russian natural gas to Western Europe and Turkey. Southeastern Europe is also a potentially significant transit region for Caspian oil exports to Europe.
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Turkey
(Last Updated: October 2006)
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Turkey's strategic location makes it a natural "energy bridge" between major oil producing areas in the Middle East and Caspian Sea regions on the one hand, and consumer markets in Europe on the other. Turkey's port of Ceyhan is an important outlet both for current Iraqi oil exports as well as for potential future Caspian oil exports. Turkey's Bosporus Straits are a major shipping "choke point" between the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Finally, Turkey is a rapidly growing energy consumer in its own right.
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United Kingdom
(Last Updated: May 2006)
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With its significant North Sea reserves, the United Kingdom is a major European oil and natural gas producer. It is also one of the largest energy consumers in Europe.
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