EU, Caspian, Black Sea States Plan Common Energy Market

A plan that paves the way for an integrated common energy market between the European Union and governments of the oil and gas rich Caspian and Black Sea regions was agreed today at a ministerial conference held in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Known as an Energy Road Map, the plan was agreed by the European Commission and the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation, as an observer.

“This conference has drawn the way towards closer energy integration of these regions of the world,” said European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
Briefing reporters in Astana, Piebalgs said the first of those two documents explores possible energy supplies to the EU from Kazakhstan and investments in the Kazakh energy sector.

The other document, which the European Commission agreed to on October 24, would authorize cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Kazakhstan is the world’s third-largest uranium producer, after Australia and Canada, but accounts for only three percent of uranium deliveries to EU nuclear facilities.

At a Baku Initiative transport ministers meeting in May, the governments agreed on development of a common security management system and cooperation in the area of maritime safety and ship pollution prevention for the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea at an initial cost in 2006 of 3.5 million euros.

The landlocked Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water on Earth and it is surrounded by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. Discovery of significant hydrocarbon deposits in the region in the mid-1990s brought an influx of foreign investment in energy development, particularly in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the Caspian could hold between 17 billion and 33 billion barrels of proven oil. Other experts estimate the Caspian could hold possible reserves of up to 233 billion barrels.

By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 261 billion barrels of oil and the United States 23 billion.

Environment News Service