Caspian Friendship: too little too late [NGW Magazine]
Feb 19, 2021 7:15:am
Summary
Among the legacies of the Soviet Union is the failure to develop certain Caspian Sea reserves. Cross-border rivalries persist, despite agreements on paper.
by: Joseph Murphy
Since the end of the Soviet Union, the development of some of the Caspian Sea’s substantial oil and gas reserves has been stifled by territorial disputes between the five littoral states. All but Iran are former members of the USSR.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have divided the northern Caspian among themselves through bilateral agreements based on median lines, allowing them to push ahead with some major projects. Other areas of the sea remain contested, though, with Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan all having competing claims. But there have been indications in recent years that those three countries are finally adopting a more pr...