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Caspian states keen on
oil |
Keen to exploit the massive oil deposits found in
its segment of the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan is pushing for an
end to the decade-long dispute over how to draw borders
between the five countries that share its
coastline.
The Soviet Union signed the only existing border
agreement with Iran in the 1940s but the treaty didn't
mention how sub-sea resources should be shared or divided up.
Then almost overnight in 1991 three new countries -
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - were created on the
shores of the Caspian.
When offshore oil was discovered the bickering began. However,
following Russian president Vladimir Putin's election in March 2000
and a US resolve to diversify its oil supplies after the terrorist
attacks last September, a new climate of cooperation has emerged
between the five littoral states.
In April last year the presidents of the five states met in the
Turkmen capital of Ashkhabad to try to thrash out a deal.
Most of the oil deposits are thought to be in the north of the
sea, in the Azerbaijani, Russian and Kazakh sectors. Iran and
Turkmenistan have therefore constantly blocked any final
settlement. Frustrated with their southern neighbours, Azerbaijan,
Russia and Kazakhstan have been pushing ahead with de facto
agreements that will allow exploration and production to
proceed.
A month after the summit, Russia and Kazakhstan went a step
further and signed a protocol to divide their part of the Caspian
seabed. The Majilis, the Kazakhstan parliament, ratified the
agreement in October. The protocol established the "geographical
coordinates of the modified meridian line demarcating the seabed of
the northern part of the Caspian between Russian and
Kazakhstan."
In other words, the two parties drew a line down the middle of
the stretch of sea between them.
By the end of the year, Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan went
on to declare that they held a "common position" on setting sea
borders between them.
Heydar Aliev, the president of Azerbaijan, visited Moscow in
September and signed a Azerbaijan-Russia agreement on "division of
adjacent sectors in Caspian Sea" that sets de facto mutual marine
borders.
Iran is strongly opposed to these agreements and refuses to
recognize their legitimacy. Last July Iranian fighter aircraft
strafed an Azerbaijani exploration ship in the southern
Caspian.
There is, though, little that either Iran or Turkmenistan can do
to prevent their northern neighbours from pushing ahead. The five
heads of state are due to meet in Tehran later this year to try to
come to a more permanent agreement.