Competition over the Caspian oil routes: Oilers and Gamers perspective

Competition over the oil routes has become the central focus of most of the literature on Caspian energy politics since the mid-1990s. From the many approaches taken, two different schools of thought can be identified, whose adherents might be described respectively as ‘Gamers’ and ‘Oilers’.1 ‘Gamers’ focus on the states as players in the ‘oil game’ whereas ‘Oilers’ focus on the role of the non-governmental actors – the oil companies.