Turkey and the EU accelerate start of NABUCCO project

An agreement will be signed in Ankara this month on facilitating the implementation of the NABUCCO project, by the ministers of energy of Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. The issue of who will provide the gas for the project will be decided in 2010-2011. This particular issue is currently being intensively discussed with Azerbaijan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Today the most controversial issue is the destination of the Azeri Shahdeniz gas, with competition as to who will purchase it. Apart from the NABUCCO project there are other competing projects which hope to purchase Azeri gas: TGI (Turkey, Greece Italy) project and TAP (Trans-Adriatic pipeline). The NABUCCO project initiators are therefore keen to accelerate the process. At the moment NABUCCO initiators are also thinking about attracting Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to provide gas for this project, as well as thinking of buying up to 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iraq. It is interesting that EU has worked on the plan involving Turkmenistan in the NABUCCO pipeline project; a project that envisages satisfying the demands of both Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and eventually NABUCCO. Russia and Iran could however crate some problems to undermine the NABUCCO project.

According to initial plans the NABUCCO project should start operating in 2013, but there is a long and difficult road ahead.