Particular attention must thus be paid to the question of transportation, and also to the countries of origin, investments in infrastructure, their protection, relations with transit countries, ‘competing consumers" (notably China and emerging countries, but also the United States), energy wastefulness in producing countries, and, finally, price. Security of supply depends on adequate and reliable infrastructure, and must always be thought of in the long term.

This entirely revised edition of the fourth study conducted by the European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy program at Ifri includes discussions about pipeline routes and potential outputs, their current use and financial requirements for transportation, ongoing projects and those planned for the future, their cost, their financing, and their probable operational start-up date. While all infrastructures are necessarily included (including Norway, the United Kingdom, and North Africa), particular attention is paid to transportation infrastructure that connects Europe with Russia and the former Soviet Union (Central Asia, Caspian Sea). It will be immediately clear that the issue of gas is dominant in current discussions.