Caspian’s reserves top 2.9bn tons of oil - Russian official
MOSCOW – Proven reserves of the Caspian Sea exceed 2.9 billion tons of oil and 3 trillion cubic meters of gas, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted by local reports as saying.
Addressing a meeting of the Russian government's Maritime Board held in the Caspian town of Astrakhan, Ivanov also said that according to Western companies’ estimates, the reserves of the resource-rich basin range from 26 to 40 billion tons of standard fuel. These resources, he said, may spur an economic boom in the region.
Ivanov also said 10 deposits discovered in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea could ensure the production of 40 million tons of oil per year.
Oil production in the Russian sector of the Caspian was launched in 2010 by Lukoil at the Yuri Korchagin field.
Besides Russia, the producers of hydrocarbons in the region are Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran, the other coastal nations.