Hmmm..I was under the impression that the Israelis have had the Caspian basin largely under their control for many years, MERHAV is the driving force behind the TAPI pipeline, hence the coalition focus on Helmand and Kandahar.
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/325/067/TAPI_Pipeline_The_Real_Reason_for_4_More_Years_of_War.html

This situation does not represent any US absence of mind.

The US is not only in Afghanistan for counter-terror reasons but for US power projection in a central region near massive oil, gas and uranium reserves in surrounding countries.

The first tier of US dominated energy resources includes Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE (and Iran might be added to this list).

The states near Afghanistan including Turmanistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan form the second tier, fallback supply for the US. The US might dominate these areas if it wished but it is currently pursuing a more prudent course of peaceful energy security co-existence: ie. the US can live with Russia and China dominating this second tier energy region for the time being.

Pete