Pricing security or pricing perceptions : differences in energy security perspectives of oil and gas

The chapter demonstrates the link between societal perception of the dependency on imports and the importance of energy resource and its price. A comparison between various countries differing in their perceptions of threat illustrates discrepancies in approaches to securing energy markets and the different willingness to price it. The differences among the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries demonstrates an important difference between oil market depoliticization and gas markets politicization which became even more visible in recent years. The price, rather than being a reflection of dichotomy between supplier (mainly Russia) and consumer (CEE countries) is a reflection of combination of negotiation strength including access to alternative markets, perceived alliance alignment or animosity. It is also a function of elite’s being able to extract rents from the trade that is paid by their respective societies. On the regional level, (Central) Europe as region differs from other security complexes, where oil supplies are still considered within a hard security perspective. In this respect, the oil (and gas) prices can be analyzed as an institution which is politicized in some geographical areas and depoliticized in other areas.