After decades of political and legal wrangling the five littoral states to the Caspian Sea have agreed to the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, clarifying maritime borders and granting each state sovereign rights to the sea.

The states, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan can construct offshore pipelines if they have the consent of the neighboring country (before consent of all littoral states was required).

Up to now territorial disputes have prevented the exploration of at least 20 billion barrels of oil and more than 240 trillion cubic feet of gas, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated in 2013.

The Caspian status quo ante is unlikely to change any time soon, as cheaper economic alternatives to Caspian gas are available on the market, particularly as it pertains to Europe. At the same time, outstanding issues concerning the boundaries of the division and future rights to either contested or undiscovered hydrocarbon fields need to be resolved.

One thing for sure: the agreement provides a big boost to pipeline plans that have been resting impatiently on the back burners since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.