Nabucco Consortium defines priority gas supply sources

Two feeder lines were confirmed and the respective engineering works were ordered.

There will be a feeder line to the Turkish-Georgian and to the Turkish-Iraqi border. The planned route offers a wide range of supply sources for the Nabucco gas pipeline, which will receive gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq.

According to the Consortium, due to the current political situation, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International is not planning a third one to the Turkish-Iranian border so far.

"Nabucco is a multi-sourcing project and will as such not rely on a single source or supplier for the operation of the pipeline. The Caspian region and the Middle East are among the world's richest gas regions and have large potential for gas export to Europe. These regions will therefore play a crucial role both in diversification and security of supply," the Consortium's report says.

The Nabucco gas pipeline project is worth 7.9 billion euro. Participants are the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE. Each participant has an equal 16.67-percent share. Construction is planned to launch in 2011, with first supplies commencing in 2014. Its maximum capacity will hit 31 billion cubic meters per year. The Nabucco Gas Pipeline International will invest 30 percent of the project's total cost. The remaining 70 percent will be paid by loans.

The Nabucco shareholders are: Bulgarian Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), MOL (Hungary), OMV (Austria), RWE (Germany) and Transgaz (Romania), Each shareholder holds an equal share of 16.67% of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. It is the shareholders who are responsible for the negotiation of gas contracts.


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