Middle East, Russia and Caspian region - new geopolitics for oil and gas flows in the Eastern hemisphere

The Caspian Oil Basin and its would-be impact on the world energy sales has been a big talking issue of late. The Caspian Rim states will join the international oil/gas market simultaneously with new Oil Industry projects coming on-stream in Russia. Both Russia and Caspian states will influence the existing oil/gas flows and balance of forces on the oil/gas markets of the Eastern Hemisphere. What will be the resultant of these two vectors? Will a stronger stand of Russia as one of the existing world market participants and a new big rival - the Caspian states, exert a profound influence on the competitive rating of the Middle East countries as oil/gas exporting majors? Let us try to answer the questions within this contribution. (orig./RHM)