North Caspian

Commentary

Despite being underexplored, the key issues remain located to the topsides. Consequently, we have a Neutral Outlook on the Basin.

Updated

June 25, 2023

Location

Description

The North Caspian basin is a petroleum-rich but lightly explored basin located in Kazakhstan and Russia. It occupies the shallow northern portion of the Caspian Sea and a large plainto the north of the sea between the Volga and Ural Rivers and farther east to the Mugodzhary Highland, which is the southern continuation of the Ural foldbelt. The Basin is bounded by the Palaeozoic carbonate platform of the Volga-Ural province to the north and west and by the Ural, South Emba, and Karpinsky Hercynian foldbelts to the east and south. The Basin was originated by pre-Late Devonian rifting and subsequent spreading that opened the oceanic crust, but the precise time of these tectonic events is not known.

Summary

Despite the long history of exploration in the North Caspian, there remains significant opportunities for further discoveries, as well as the application of the technology to field redevelopment.