Oil Is Driving U.S. Interest in Former Soviet Union

What is behind Cheneys controversial comments against Russia?

Oil!!!
Large quantities of oil are being discovered in several countries in the former Soviet Union.

From CBS news
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Cheney Seeks Oil In Kazakhstan
Fourth U.S. Official To Visit; Human Rights Issues To Be Raised, Too

(AP) Vice President Dick Cheney returns to Washington Monday after his controversial visit to Lithuania and Kazakhstan. Cheney became the fourth top administration official to visit the former Soviet republic in recent months, underscoring the importance placed on a country that is strategically located and rich in energy resources.

U.S. policy favors the development of multiple means of delivering Kazakhstan's energy supplies to markets in the West and elsewhere. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told Congress recently, the United States is "working on securing the flow of oil" from North Caspian oil fields by tanker to a pipeline terminus in Azerbaijan. That route would bypass Russia and Iran. There has also been periodic talk of building a pipeline under the Caspian Sea.

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