Question:
Add on to the following response for a group discussion board.
Please add any sources used
Oil and gas has become a huge fossil fuel offered in Central Asia. In particular, oil and gas is most aboundantly found in the west side of Central Asia (MapMaster). There are pipelines and basins located in Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan (MapMaster).
Economic opportunity surfaced when foreign interest was attracted by the large amounts of fossil fuels (Aslund 2003). Kazakstan, being the counrty with the least amount of debt and the most amount of oil to offer, is the top trader in the group of countries (Aslund 2003). China eventually bought out the rights to develop two oil fields in Kazakstan for $9 billion (Christoffersen 1998).
With all of this economic development, leads to social development as well. Many of the countries in Central Asia were and still are struggling with poverty and a high death rate. This has decreased in areas that are more involved in fossil fuel trade (Ishkanian 2006). The trade of oil and gas has offered new jobs and opportunities for the citizens of the countries. This has socially developed them for the better.