Although Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have the capacity to significantly influence the energy sector, their current development of oil, natural gas, and coal are too varied and many obstacles still stand in the way before they can be coined an “Energy Superpower.”
So, what are these obstacles?
Geopolitical
Central Asia’s geographical location is landlocked: Russia to its north, China to its east, the Middle East to its south, and Eastern/Western Europe to its east. Of the three major resource-rich countries in Central Asia, only Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have access to the Caspian Sea which has the potential to link them to the world energy market via the Black Sea.