Azernews.Az

The change of Nabucco gas pipeline project`s concept was a big step forward, BP`s Vice President for Shah Deniz Full Field Development Alasdair Cook said in an interview with the Financial Times.

``We believe Nabucco West is a much improved offer. We`re really pleased,`` Cook said.

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International proposed a new concept of the project (Nabucco-West) to the Shah Deniz consortium, according to which the pipeline will be laid from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to the Austrian Baumgarten. The project`s original concept envisages the construction of the pipeline with the length at 3,900 kilometers from the Georgian-Turkish and Iraqi-Turkish borders to Baumgarten. The pipeline is expected to run through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.

Gas to be produced during the second stage of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development is considered as the main source for Nabucco.

According to some sources, Nabucco pipeline`s capacity (at 31 billion cubic meters) can be downsized by twice.

According to Cook, BP is convinced that it would be wiser to build a smaller pipe that could be expanded over time as more gas becomes available.

Earlier Nabucco Gas Pipeline International Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek told Azerbaijan`s Trend news agency that the Nabucco consortium continues supporting the project`s original concept, adding that at the same time different scenarios of the project are being evaluated in order to find the best solution for suppliers and transportation customers.

Experts believe that the Nabucco project`s original concept lost all its chances for implementation after Azerbaijan and Turkey announced the idea of building their own pipeline across Turkey - Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).

TANAP envisages construction of a pipeline with the initial capacity at 16 billion cubic meters per year from the eastern border of Turkey to the country`s western border. The cost of TANAP will be set by Azerbaijan`s state energy firm Socar and may be close to $5 billion.

Azerbaijan and Turkey intend to sign an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP this week.

Cook said BP has been invited to join the TANAP group and will decide whether to invest in a matter of months.

Benefits for Bulgaria
Bulgaria will profit from the Nabucco project implementation, Ekonom:east Media Group (EMG) quoted Reinhard Mitschek as saying.

``The country will make great profit from the new gas pipeline, since it will provide new business opportunities, diversification and reliability of gas supplies across all transit countries,`` Mitschek said.

He said that Nabucco Gas Pipeline International welcomes the Bulgarian government`s support to the project.

Last week the Bulgarian cabinet approved an agreement between Nabucco Gas Pipeline Bulgaria EOOD and Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC), which was signed in June 2011. The goal of the agreement is further specification of the stages of the Nabucco project`s implementation in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian cabinet proposes to the country`s parliament to ratify the contract.

According to Mitschek, the support agreement is a necessary prerequisite for the successful funding of the pipeline project.

Bulgarian Energy Holding is one of the six shareholders in the Nabucco pipeline project, which is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to European countries. The project`s other partners include Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary`s FGSZ.