ABSTRACT
Russia, with the second-largest stock of natural gas in the world, is poised at a precarious point in its history. In clinical terms, it is at a crisis from which a patient either improves or collapses. The previous two quotes point to an unpredictable scenario. This chapter proposes to look at the Russian gas pipelines that would largely determine the Russian future in view of the fact that its economy and its global role would largely depend on the gas exports that are mainly through the pipelines. Two major pipelines deserve close scrutiny in this respect: one, the South Stream Pipeline that has run into obstacles and undergone a change of its name to Turkish Pipeline, and two, the twin pipelines to China that have still to be named and finalised after the deal was signed in May 2014 between Russia and China. The sources, the routes, the destinations and the prospects of these pipelines are diametrically opposite to each other and bring out the situation of the Russian gas pipelines in the most holistic framework.
