The Real US-Russian Staredown: Status Of Caspian As Sea Or Lake Will Dictate Oil Exploitation - IHT

[hatrack]

BERLIN: Is the Caspian a sea or a lake? The answer has immense repercussions for the energy industry. If it is a lake, there are no obligations by countries that flank it to grant permits to foreign vessels or drilling companies. But if it is sea, there are international treaties obliging those countries to an array of permits. The Caspian, one of the world's largest enclosed bodies of water, has become the center of a new power game involving the United States and Russia as well as its bordering countries, including Iran, over who should control the vast energy reserves under its depths.

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On Tuesday, it was Putin's turn to put down his marker. On the first visit in 64 years by a Kremlin leader to Tehran, he met his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose country faces a fresh round of sanctions by the United Nations if it does not comply with Security Council demands for reining in its nuclear program. But while the standoff between Iran and the United Nations stole the limelight, the reason for Putin's visit was a summit meeting with Ahmadinejad and three Central Asian leaders who are now being wooed in the Caspian power game.

"The summit in Tehran was about the future status of the Caspian Sea," said Johannes Reissner, Middle East expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. "Iran and Russia have enormous interests in resolving this status. But there are major disagreements between them."

In addition to Iran and Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan also have Caspian coastlines. And while all of them want a large stake in the oil reserves, and to use of the sea for transportation, none of them have been able to agree on the status of the coveted waters.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/17/business/caspian.php

[htuttle]

1. Well, if it gets the same treatment as the Aral Sea, it will be just a puddle in no time

[happyslug]

3. Not as long as the largest river in Europe flows into it.

That is the Volga.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_River

More on the Caspian Sea:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea

The Aral Sea's main inflows are a lot smaller than the Volga:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syr_Darya

Basically you have just two river flowing into the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya at 1400 m/s and the Syr Darya at 703 m/s (Total: 2101m/s).

80% of the water going into the Caspian is from the Volga at 8060 m/s. An additional 403 m/s of water flows into the Caspian from the Ural River. Thus you have OVER 8 times the water flowing into the Caspian as you do the Aral Sea:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amu_Darya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga

[hobbit709]

2. Land-locked saltwater lake

No connection to open oceans.

[happyslug]

4. Yet only 1/3 as salty as the Ocean

And the points near the Volga are Fresh Water (See my above sites on the Caspian for details)