Nabucco in talks with potential new shareholders – reports
BAKU – New companies may join the consortium managing the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline for Europe in a bid to meet challenges caused by the lack of funds for the Western-backed project, Turkish media reported.
Nabucco Gas Pipeline International is reportedly in talks on the issue with such energy majors as BP, Shell, Azerbaijan’s state energy firm Socar, Statoil, France’s GDF Suez and Total.
Though talks were held earlier with GDF Suez and Total, German energy firm RWE ultimately became a shareholder in the project.
The Nabucco pipeline is part of the so-called Southern Corridor, a series of transit networks meant to move natural gas from Caspian and other regional gas suppliers to European consumers. Azerbaijan is among potential suppliers for the pipeline, which seeks to carry up to 31 billion cubic meters a year of gas across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey into southeast Europe and onwards to an Austrian trading hub, bypassing Russia. According to the pipeline consortium, construction is due to start in 2013 and operations in 2017.
The project's participants include the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE.
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