Closer geological study of the Azeri sector of the Caspian could reveal a greater tendency towards gas than oil in the sea's deep-water section, the chief geologist of Azeri state oil company SOCAR said. If true, the speculations of Khoshbakht Yusifzade, who is the country's leading expert and one of four SOCAR vice presidents, could confirm growing suspicions that Azerbaijan holds as much gas as oil, if not more. Azeri specialists have now studied almost all of the former Soviet republic's onshore and shallow-water offshore structures and have discovered that is where the bulk of the oil lies, Yusifzade said. "Our previous research and experience in Azerbaijan allows us to assume that in the Caspian, the deeper the water, the more likely it is that we'll discover gas seams," he said.