The Caspian Sea is one of the world's oldest oil and gas producing regions, and still one of the most promising, if certain problems can be overcome.

Reserves in the Caspian Sea are huge - up to 200 billion barrels of oil - but two important elements are missing for successful exploitation. They were summarized in 1905 by a British Petroleum group, who said "we need peace among the Tarters and a pipeline to the Black Sea." Almost 100 years later, the region is still politically fragmented, with territorial and political disputes standing in the way of pipelines that must be completed to transport the oil to market.