Caspian Sea states strike resources deal

The five countries bordering the Caspian Sea – Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan – have agreed to regulate the land-locked body of water as a sea, giving them exclusive economic rights over the waters up to 15 miles from their coasts, writes Keith Nuthall. The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea could help unlock oil and natural gas reserves under the waters of what, geologically speaking, is the world’s largest lake by surface area.

The countries have also laid down how agreements should be made over seabed and subsoil extraction, saying these would be struck by ‘agreement between states with adjacent and opposite coasts, with due regard to the generally recognised principles and norms of international law’. This means further rounds of talks will be needed, but it indicates that each country will claim a sector of the Caspian and their oil and gas reserves, rather than all littoral states sharing these resources, as per one option previously under discussion (see Petroleum Review’s June issue at bit.ly/2Ko8OeE).

The same control is to be exercised over pipelines running through these sectors. As a result, the newly announced convention will allow Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to strike a deal over laying a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, carrying Turkmen gas to Europe, but only with the participation and agreement of Russia, Iran and Kazakhstan.