Stars and Stripes Fly over Caspian Sea

http://www.rosbaltnews.com/2003/08/01/63269.html

Over the last few years the United States has openly admitted that the Caspian Sea region is of strategic interest to it. This has been set out clearly in the US' energy doctrine. In contrast to Iraq, US companies have managed to take control of 16% of the Caspian's oil reserves and 11.4% of its gas reserves without firing a shot. If you add joint US-British companies to this list, then Washington and London control 27% of the Caspian's oil reserves ad 40% of its gas reserves.

Of course, the allies needed 10 years to achieve this in the Caspian, compared to a couple of months in Iraq, but the result is much the same. The US already feels itself to be in charge in the region. A recent Chinese attempt to negotiate greater participation in Kazakh oil and gas projects met fierce US opposition. Kazakhstan itself has little chance of having its own energy policy: 73% of the country's proven oil reserves are controlled by Western oil companies.

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Iran is the main obstacle to US plans to develop international oil and gas projects in the Caspian. Turkmenistan is in many ways similar to Iran, but with one main difference: it is much less able to stand up to US pressure.

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The positions of the different countries are clear. Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have lined up together, which makes the business of gaining access to Caspian energy reserves much easier for international oil corporations. If this position remains unchanged, a significant part of the Caspian's riches will find themselves controlled by Russia's strategic partner:
Time will tell how wise this policy is. Meanwhile, the process of dividing the Caspian's energy resources is drawing to a close.
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