The Caspian region, being a powerful energy, transportation and communication hub, currently is one of the most significant geopolitical and economic centers in Eurasia.
Intensive seacoast development, high growth of the oil and gas industry, realized and planned regional projects for the development of the international logistics infrastructure, connecting Europe and Asia – all this necessitates the establishment of coordinated international cooperation based on legal norms, equality and mutual consideration of interests of all Caspian littoral states, reads an article posted by the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency.
The above mentioned issues were also discussed during the recent official visit of Turkmenistan’s president to Baku, Azerbaijan, according to the article.
The importance of the early adoption of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea is stated in the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, signed following the summit meeting.
The Caspian Sea is surrounded by the five coastal countries of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.
The legal status of the Caspian Sea has remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major projects.
Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan hold to the principle of dividing into national sectors based on the “median line” principles since it is an international boundary lake, and leaving the sea surface for general use, i.e. they are for demarcation of mineral resources and the Caspian Sea shelf, but against dividing up its waters.
Iran seeks an equal division of the Caspian into five even sectors, mainly because most of the offshore energy resources are located away from the Iranian coastline. Turkmenistan also demands the division of the Sea into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country has 20 percent of the sea.
Turkmenistan is one of the key players in the energy market of the Caspian region and Central Asia. Hydrocarbon resources of Turkmenistan can be connected to the western direction through the Caspian Sea – thanks to the construction of the pipeline – about 300 kilometers under the sea to the shore of Azerbaijan, from there fuel can be sent to Turkey and further to Europe.
Azerbaijan is one of the Caspian region’s most important strategic oil and gas export routes to the West.
Azerbaijan’s proven oil reserves stood at 7 billion barrels, or 0.4 percent of the world’s total proven oil reserves. The country’s proven natural gas reserves are estimated at approximately 35 trillion cubic feet.
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