Brussels, 28/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Shah Deniz Consortium has chosen the Nabucco West project to transport Azeri gas to the European market. As a supporter of the project, the Commission welcomes this decision.
The announcement comes as good news for a Nabucco project which has had a rough ride over recent months: led by the British energy company BP (25.5%), the Norwegian company Statoil (25.5%), the Azeri company Socar (10%), the French company Total (10%), the joint Italo-Russian company LukAgip (ENI and LUKoil, 10%), the Iranian company NIOC (10%) and the Turkish company TPAO (9%), the Shah Deniz Consortium has finally made its choice on the Nabucco West gas pipeline project to bring gas from the vast Shah Daniz gas field in Azerbaijan across Europe, to the detriment of the South East Europe pipeline (SEEP), led by BP.
The European Commission also welcomes the decision as it has always fought to keep the Nabucco project going. “With this pre-selection, we are a step closer to getting gas directly from Azerbaijan and other countries in the Caspian region. Whatever the final decision of the whole route from the Eastern part of Turkey to Europe, Azerbaijani gas is certain to come to Europe. This is a success for Europe and our security of supply”, says Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger.
The Nabucco West project will transport the Azeri gas via a 1,300 kilometre pipeline starting on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, crossing Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and terminating at Baumgarten in the east of Austria. The initial Nabucco project planned a 3,900 kilometre pipeline across Turkey. Nabucco West will be linked up to the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) which will cross Turkey to Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has decided to market a large amount of gas from its Shah Deniz fields, where exploitation will reach 16 billion m3 per year. Europe will be able to obtain 10 billion m3 per year but no decision on the quantities has yet been taken. A definitive contract with Shah Deniz could, however, be a crucial step forward for the Nabucco project, which aims to diversify the supply of Europe's gas as it is currently dependent on 25% gas from Russia. (EH/transl.fl)