Azernews.Az

Hungarian energy group MOL is still withholding financing from the Nabucco natural gas pipeline venture and is ready to see its share in the implementation consortium reduced, the company said Thursday, Dow Jones reported.

MOL, represented in the Nabucco venture through its natural gas distribution arm FGSZ Zrt., said this year that it would no longer fund the Nabucco initiative unless the concept is reconsidered and a supply of natural gas is secured to pump into the pipeline once it is built.

Having skipped the latest quarterly financing contribution, FGSZ's share in the consortium dropped 2% and the company's Chief Executive Janos Zsuga told daily Magyar Nemzet that its stake may soon diminish further.

Mr. Zsuga is quoted as saying that the fate of the Nabucco--planned to deliver Caspian natural gas to central Europe--is likely to be sealed next summer when Azerbaijan decides if it will pick the Nabucco offer to deliver its natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field. Zsuga added that the Azeri field is the only realistically available source of gas for the project.

Nabucco West is a short-cut version of Nabucco project, which envisages construction of the pipeline from Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. Gas to be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development is considered as the main source for the project.

The project's current shareholders are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ.