The New Great Game A story of black and liquid gold in Central Asia
Among autocrats, bureaucrats and diggers - international brewers are staking their claims in the former Soviet East.
Seen any denim-clad gents with checked shirts and a broad Texan drawl at Istanbul airport lately? Must have been oil exploration geologists or engineers waiting for their connecting flight to the Middle East - without question. These days, though, this simple conclusion would be somewhat outdated. Oil also talks with a distinct Scottish accent, Norwegian, Russian, is nattily dressed and most likely on its way from Istanbul to Baku, the Azerbaijan boom town on the Caspian coast. Or off to Astana, the new capital metropolis on the steppes of Kazakhstan, rivalling the glitzy skyline of Dallas. Only if.....