Strategic advantages of transport network in the Caspian sea region

Abstract

This article reviews the existing transport and energy networks in the Caspian Sea region, evaluates their capacities and indicates potential projects that can strengthen the potentialities of the Caspian transportation and energy networks. The Caspian transport network consists of two main transport corridors, namely the “East-West” transport corridor and the “North-South” transport corridor, along with the oil and gas pipeline system extending from the Caspian to Europe. The Caspian coastal states, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which are renowned for their rich deposits of oil and natural gas, also offer great transit potential worldwide. The transit capacity of the Caspian region has played a very crucial role for great powers, providing the European Union (EU), the United States (US), Russia and China with important commercial and strategic advantages. It must be mentioned that the Caspian State Azerbaijan is the both leading participant and supporter of these initiatives. Historically speaking, an initiative by the EU and the US to help the reconstruction of the Silk Route in the early 1990s, the importance of the “East-West” transport corridor within China's “One Belt and One Road Initiative” since 2013, as well as Azerbaijan-Russia's initiatives to create the “North-South” transport corridor in 2000s are strong indicators of how much the Caspian region matters commercially and strategically. By analyzing its strategic and commercial advantages, this article argues the Caspian region owns one of the most important international transport and energy hubs that connect the East with the West. The historical significance and prospects of transportation and energy corridors in the Caspian region have been explored and the infrastructure available in the region has been assessed. If Azerbaijan together with the other Caspian states achieves to fully realize the two projects namely, the Trans-Caspian pipeline and middle transportation corridor, they will serve to the further development of the Caspian energy network.