In the fallout from the confrontation between Russia and Georgia in the Caucasus, China is likely to gain a significant bonus in the drive to buttress its energy security by importing natural gas from nearby countries in Central Asia. Although restrained by a fragile ceasefire brokered by France and agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi, the recent fighting has cast a shadow over Georgia's reliability and future role as an energy corridor bringing gas to Europe from the petroleum rich Caspian Sea and Central Asia, without passing through Russia or Iran.
Reflecting this concern, BP announced on August 12 that it had shut down an oil pipeline that runs through Georgia and stopped pumping gas into another pipeline transiting the country, both as a precautionary measure.
Normal flow in the gas pipeline was resumed two days later. But the oil pipeline to Supsa, on Georgia's Black Sea coast, remained shut, as did a much bigger oil pipeline from Azerbaijan on the Caspian to Turkey via Georgia.
It was closed earlier in the month after a fire on its Turkish stretch, blamed on Kurdish separatists. This Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is also operated by BP and carries about 1 million barrels of Caspian crude oil per day, mainly to Europe.
After seeing Russian readiness to use force and the west's inability to counter the military incursion into Georgia, the three key Central Asian gas suppliers, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are expected to turn to China, instead of Europe, as their main alternative gas market to Russia.
Together, the proven gas reserves of these three central Asian republics total more than 6.3 trillion cubic metres, far behind Russia's 44.6 trillion cubic metres, but enough to put Central Asia into the world's top dozen sources of gas - a less-polluting fossil fuel than coal or oil.