Conclusions

Abstract

This book describes concisely the architecture of the oil and gas pipelines in the Caspian–Black Sea Region. The marine geographical (oceanographic) approach assumes that the Caspian–Black Sea Region includes countries, more precisely, the subjects of these countries located on the coasts of the Caspian and Black seas. The economic integration based on the oil and gas pipelines takes together different parts of this region and turns it into something whole. Nearly 25 years have passed from the time when three former republics of the Soviet Union – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, being the Caspian littoral states – changed radically and now determine the geopolitical situation in this region.

After discovery of rich hydrocarbon resources in this region, it is here that the so-called oil and gas pipeline geopolitics was shaped that involved, in fact, the whole European Union. This policy is targeted to loosen the export dependence from Russia and to diversify the pipeline routes.

If in the times of the Soviet Union, there were two oil transit routes, Baku–Novorossiysk and Baku–Batumi, then today we have rather large-scale export line projects, both existing and planned, that bypass Russia, although the planned projects are subject to long and serious trials in the face of the changing political situation in the transit countries.

This book is intended for politicians, specialists in oil and gas business, and decision-makers.