Undiscovered Oil & Gas Resources Make Caspian Sea an Important Region in the World for E&P

Thursday 11 July 2013, Amsterdam

The Caspian Sea area has immense scope for oil and gas exploration and production due to the presence of substantial undiscovered resources. The Caspian Sea area is divided into four petroliferous (rocks containing petroleum) geologic provinces: the South Caspian Basin, the Middle Caspian Basin, the North Caspian Basin (Pre-Caspian basin) and the North Ustyurt Basin. The total area of the four provinces is 1.3 million square kilometers. Each basin is further divided into several assessment units (USGS, 2010).     

Kazakhstan has the Highest Number of Exploration Blocks in the Caspian Sea Region
Kazakhstan recorded the highest number of exploration blocks in the Caspian Sea region in 2012. The Caspian Sea region contains the Middle Caspian, North Ustyurt, North Caspian and South Caspian basins. The Caspian Sea region had approximately 91 exploration blocks, including active, inactive and planned blocks, at the end of 2012. Of these blocks, Kazakhstan had the highest number, with 33, followed by Turkmenistan, with 31. Iran and Russia have no exploration blocks in the Caspian Sea region.

Russia is the Leading Producer of Oil and Gas in the Caspian Region
The total oil and natural gas production in the five littoral states of the Caspian region increased from 8,338 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in 2001 to 11,597.2 mmboe by the end of 2012. Oil and gas production in the region increased at an Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of 3%.

Among the five littoral states of the Caspian region, Russia recorded the highest production of oil and gas for 2012. The gross crude oil and natural gas production of the country for 2012 was approximately 7,783.2 mmboe. The country accounted for 67.1% of the total oil and gas production of the five littoral states in 2012, which stood at approximately 11,597.2 mmboe.