Energy exploration and the caspian region sturgeon, seals, and sulfur

TY - CHAP

T1 - Energy exploration and the caspian region sturgeon, seals, and sulfur

AU - German, Tracey

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - The Caspian Sea became the site of the world’s first commercial oil industry, when oil reserves in Azerbaijan (then part of the Russian Empire) were developed at the end of the nineteenth century. Early exploitation of the region’s hydrocarbons took place onshore. Offshore drilling technology was developed during the Soviet era, and the first major offshore field, Neftyanye Kamni (Oily Rocks), came on-stream in the 1940s. Oil and gas production during the Soviet era led to high levels of pollution in the Caspian, largely because of a lack of awareness of the potential negative environmental implications. According to Hekimoðlu, “[W]herever the oil industry had coastal and offshore operations, concentrations of contaminants in the Caspian were found to be several times the Sovietrecognized maximum permissible level” (Hekimoðlu, 1999, p. 86). By the end of the Soviet era, the average concentration of oil in Baku harbour was ten times the maximum permissible concentration (Hekimoðlu, 1999, p. 86). According to Azerbaijan’s Ecology and Natural Resources minister, pollution in the Caspian has decreased markedly during the past two decades in spite of a rise in oil and gas production, largely because of the use of modern technology, although Sovietera wells are still causing significant damage to the sea bed. Furthermore, not all pollution is the result of industrial pollution. Natural seepage contributes to the pollution of the Caspian Sea as well.

AB - The Caspian Sea became the site of the world’s first commercial oil industry, when oil reserves in Azerbaijan (then part of the Russian Empire) were developed at the end of the nineteenth century. Early exploitation of the region’s hydrocarbons took place onshore. Offshore drilling technology was developed during the Soviet era, and the first major offshore field, Neftyanye Kamni (Oily Rocks), came on-stream in the 1940s. Oil and gas production during the Soviet era led to high levels of pollution in the Caspian, largely because of a lack of awareness of the potential negative environmental implications. According to Hekimoðlu, “[W]herever the oil industry had coastal and offshore operations, concentrations of contaminants in the Caspian were found to be several times the Sovietrecognized maximum permissible level” (Hekimoðlu, 1999, p. 86). By the end of the Soviet era, the average concentration of oil in Baku harbour was ten times the maximum permissible concentration (Hekimoðlu, 1999, p. 86). According to Azerbaijan’s Ecology and Natural Resources minister, pollution in the Caspian has decreased markedly during the past two decades in spite of a rise in oil and gas production, largely because of the use of modern technology, although Sovietera wells are still causing significant damage to the sea bed. Furthermore, not all pollution is the result of industrial pollution. Natural seepage contributes to the pollution of the Caspian Sea as well.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84960337655&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4324/9781315824840

DO - 10.4324/9781315824840

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:84960337655

SN - 9781317836087

SN - 9781138948556

SP - 41

EP - 51

BT - Environmental Crises in Central Asia: From steppes to Seas, from Deserts to Glaciers

PB - Taylor and Francis

ER -