Former German premier Schroeder says Nabucco needs Iranian gas
Gerhard Schroeder, the former German chancellor, has
said the EU`s planned Nabucco pipeline, which would sidestep
Russian territory and supplies, would have to rely on Iranian gas,
according to Russian news agencies.
At an energy conference in Kazakhstan`s capital, Astana, Schroeder said existing arrangements would only provide enough gas for the Nord Stream and South Stream pipeline projects, both rivals to Nabucco.
Plans for all three projects were justified because Europe needed additionally greater amounts of gas, he said. But the EU must overcome its political differences with Iran in order to secure an agreement over gas deliveries from the Caspian Sea, he added. +
Schroeder, who sits on Nord Stream`s board and on the board of Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP, emphasized that Nabucco posed no threat to the planned Nord and South Stream pipelines. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with whom Schroeder is good friends, has voiced similar sentiments in the past.
Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have also previously said that it is unclear where gas for Nabucco would come from.
Nabucco is intended to make the EU less dependent on Russian gas.
Russian politicians are doing everything they can to secure gas supplies from Central Asia and the former Soviet republics for Moscow`s projects.
Building the 3,300-kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline is scheduled to begin in 2011. From 2014, it is intended to transport 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe every year.
An estimated 8 billion euros will be spent on the project. Gas suppliers so far under consideration include Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Iraq.
At an energy conference in Kazakhstan`s capital, Astana, Schroeder said existing arrangements would only provide enough gas for the Nord Stream and South Stream pipeline projects, both rivals to Nabucco.
Plans for all three projects were justified because Europe needed additionally greater amounts of gas, he said. But the EU must overcome its political differences with Iran in order to secure an agreement over gas deliveries from the Caspian Sea, he added. +
Schroeder, who sits on Nord Stream`s board and on the board of Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP, emphasized that Nabucco posed no threat to the planned Nord and South Stream pipelines. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with whom Schroeder is good friends, has voiced similar sentiments in the past.
Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have also previously said that it is unclear where gas for Nabucco would come from.
Nabucco is intended to make the EU less dependent on Russian gas.
Russian politicians are doing everything they can to secure gas supplies from Central Asia and the former Soviet republics for Moscow`s projects.
Building the 3,300-kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline is scheduled to begin in 2011. From 2014, it is intended to transport 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe every year.
An estimated 8 billion euros will be spent on the project. Gas suppliers so far under consideration include Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Iraq.
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