Hydrocarbon-Rich Territories in Central Asia: Producing Countries, Exporting Enclaves or Transit Countries?

• Main Author: Aurelia Mañé
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) 2005-10-01
• Series: Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals
• Subjects: Asia Central; petróleo; gas; comercio
• Online Access: http://www.cidob.org/es/content/download/1904/18341/file/aurelia.pdf

This article aims to qualify the different analyses and currents of opinion that are circulating with respect to Central Asia’s capacity to become one of the main exporters of hydrocarbons in the next decade. For this, it first examines whether or not, in quantitativeterms, the hydrocarbon-rich territories of Central Asia can become one of the main suppliers on a world scale; secondly, it explains why the countries of Central Asia will play a necessarily different role on the international energy scene than that played by the OPEC countries; and, finally, it indicates what the relevance of this area could be in the organisation (structure) of the contemporary international energy scene. In this sense, it discusses not producing countries, but rather countries of passage.