Brussels, 26/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - Further to a ministerial conference which was held in Vienna on Monday, the energy ministers of Austria, Martin Bartenstein, Bulgaria, Rumen Stoyanov Ovcharov, Hungary, János Kóka, Romania, Ioan-Codurt ªereº and Turkey, Mehemet Hilmi Güler, agreed to speed up work at commercial, regulatory and legal level for the construction of the "Nabucco" gas pipeline, as soon as possible. In the presence of Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, an agreement was signed in the form of a joint declaration. According to the newspaper Turkish Daily News of 25 June, this "political support" should allow the companies involved in the project- OMV for Austria, MOL for Hungary, BOTAS for Turkey, Bulgargaz for Bulgaria and Transgaz for Romania- "to obtain guarantees from the European Commission that they will benefit from exemptions to the rules requiring access to the pipeline for all comers at regulated prices". "Instead of these rules, the companies involved hoped to reach non-regulated agreements for initial supply contracts to be valid for 10 to 20 years", added the Turkish Daily News (our translation). The newspaper went on to state that the Commission considers that these exceptions are "acceptable in this case". The "Nabucco" gas pipeline, which will be 3400 km long, is, according to the Commission, "critical" for Europe's long-term need to link its gas market up with the Caspian Sea region, with 10 to 15% of imported gas to come from this region by 2025, according to estimates. The "Nabucco" project will allow a greater diversification of energy supply into the Union, as it will offer an additional route for natural gas to reach Europe from the Caspian Sea region, particularly from Azerbaijan, bypassing Russia, and the Middle East. Leaving the Caspian basin to cross Turkey to reach Bulgaria, the pipeline will allow between eight and 13 billion cubic metres of natural gas to be brought into the Community market every year.