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8 Pipeline Politics Australia Australia has five natural gas network systems. Europe Europe has 21 existing (within Europe) natural gas pipeline network systems (some regional and some trans-European). Five new natural gas pipelines are in the planning stages. • Fourteen natural gas pipeline network systems transport gas from the North Sea gas fields to Europe. • Four natural gas pipeline network systems transport gas from Africa (the Algerian hub for natural gas) to Europe (e.g., Spain). • Six natural gas pipeline network systems run from the gas fields in Russia to Europe. North America • Canada has nine natural gas pipeline network systems. • Mexico has seven natural gas pipeline network systems. • The United States has – forty-eight major natural gas intrastate pipeline network systems and dozens of interstate pipeline networks, – eighteen offshore natural gas pipeline system networks, – fourteen liquefied natural gas (LNG) import-export terminals, and – eight Hinshaw natural gas pipeline network systems (pipelines that flow gas in interstate commerce but are subject to state regulation). Latin America Latin America has 18 multinational natural gas pipeline network systems. Table 1.2 (continued) PIPELINE POLITICS Transporting oil and natural gas through pipelines that cross national boundaries can often be politically complicated. For example, countries in the European Union (EU) primarily rely on energy imports (e.g., oil and natural gas) from nonmember countries (e.g., Russia). The EU’s dependence on oil imports has grown from 76% in 2000 to over 88% in 2014.15 Russia is the biggest supplier of oil and natural gas to the EU, whose dependence on Russian fossil fuels has grown from 22% in 2001 to 30% in 2015.16 The larg- est importers of Russian gas are Germany and Italy, followed by France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Slovakia. Significant non-EU importers of Russian natural gas are Ukraine, Turkey, and Belarus.