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This paper is meant to address issues related to energy security in the twenty-first century, and to identify areas where NATO could add value to the world’s overall energy security environment, and in particular how it can improve the security of critical energy infrastructures. Increased demand on energy resources, driven mainly by economic growth and demographic developments in Asian countries, particularly China and India, has removed spare capacity from the energy market, which has translated into price hikes for energy resources, thus causing immense economic damage to nations that are heavily dependent on energy imports. Energy scarcity and the inability of energy producing countries to increase exploration and extraction capacities creates additional tensions on the energy market and even causes friction between states in their efforts to secure energy resources. Aging energy infrastructures in some producer countries, combined with political instability and the increasing tendency of energy producing states to use their export potential for political leverage are additional sources of concern for European consumers. Terrorist organizations have recognized the vulnerabilities of Western economies, and have adopted the policy of “petroterrorism,” which aims to cause interruptions in energy flow and inflict economic damage on the United States and other Western nations. Threats of terrorist attacks on the energy infrastructure have become an issue of increased attention and discussion in Western societies and institutions, such as the European Union and NATO. Concerns about energy insecurity have prompted NATO to raise the issues for discussion within the Alliance. As early as the organization’s Strategic Concept of 1991, and then later in 1999, Allied nations recognized the disruption of the flow of vital natural resources as a potential threat and challenge to the organization in the coming century. Though energy security and the security of critical energy infrastructure elements are not new topics for NATO, the Alliance has still not defined a clear role it might play in securing energy flows to its member states. However, there are certainly areas where the Alliance could add value. By patrolling the world’s strategic energy chokepoints, conducting monitoring and threat assessments on maritime shipping lanes, and providing training and support to domestic security services, NATO could play a significant role in securing the flow of the world’s energy resources. Protecting critical energy infrastructure, providing Allied solidarity in cases of the disruption of energy flows to one of the Allied nations, and even carrying out interdiction operations are the issues NATO has to address in the immediate future.

Energy Security and NATO: Any Role for the Alliance?