Aspirant Academy
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RAS question

Match the following major oil/gas pipelines with the regions they primarily serve: List I (Pipeline) — List II (Region Served) A. Nord Stream — 1. Central Asia to China B. Trans-Alaskan Pipeline — 2. Russia to Western Europe C. East Siberia–Pacific Ocean (ESPO) — 3. Russia/Siberia to Asia-Pacific D. Central Asia–China Pipeline — 4. Alaska oil fields to southern Alaska

Correct answer: (A) A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1.

The correct matching is Nord Stream with Russia to Western Europe, Trans-Alaskan Pipeline with Alaska oil fields to southern Alaska, ESPO with Russia/Siberia to the Asia-Pacific, and Central Asia-China Pipeline with Central Asia to China.

  1. (A)

    A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1

  2. (B)

    A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1

  3. (C)

    A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4

  4. (D)

    A-1, B-3, C-4, D-2

Explanation

Nord Stream is matched with Russia to Western Europe because the EIA identifies Russia's natural-gas pipeline infrastructure for Europe as including the Baltic Sea route, Nord Stream 1 and 2. The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline is matched with Alaska oil fields to southern Alaska because it runs from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope to Valdez. ESPO is matched with Russia/Siberia to the Asia-Pacific because the EIA describes the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline as a primary route for delivering Russian crude oil to China, with the main line continuing toward Kozmino. The Central Asia-China Pipeline is matched with Central Asia to China because it carries natural gas from Turkmenistan through Central Asia into China.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (B) It sends Nord Stream to the Asia-Pacific and ESPO to Western Europe, reversing the Russia-to-Europe gas route and the Eastern Siberia-to-Asia oil route.
  • (C) It assigns the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline to Central Asia-China and the Central Asia-China Pipeline to southern Alaska, although the former is an Alaska route and the latter is the Central Asia-to-China gas corridor.
  • (D) It misplaces every pipeline: Nord Stream is not Central Asia-China, Trans-Alaskan is not Russia/Siberia-to-Asia-Pacific, ESPO is not a southern-Alaska route, and Central Asia-China is not Russia-to-Western Europe.

Concept

This tests the World Geography theme of strategic energy corridors and their regional markets. It recurs in RAS because pipelines link physical geography with geopolitics, trade routes and resource distribution.

Source

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