Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

In terms of a multilateral approach, Russia has been pushing for a "Eurasian Alliance of Natural Gas Producers" that would include Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It has been dubbed a "Central Asian OPEC" that would aim at "cooperation in energy policy and measures to defend interests of natural gas producers".

When you consider that Bush’s strategy is to break OPEC’s stranglehold on oil markets and that natural gas is soon to supplant oil as the fossil fuel of choice and that Putin is setting up an OPEC for natural gas, well…it looks like Bush is going to have to become even more aggressive in Russia’s near abroad.

One might rightfully surmise that Bush will attempt to stop the formation of a gas producers' ‘Central Asian OPEC’.

-Am

Reference:
This is in direct conflict with the BUSH strategy which is to control Iraq, break OPEC's stranglehold on oil markets, force crude prices down and thus deny Islamist terrorism access to petro-financing. The BUSH Administration is not just going after Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction. It is going after OPEC and the global financial infrastructure that supports terrorism, says Giridhar Srinivasan.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/2002/09/03/stories/2002090300060800.htm