Nabucco's legal framework to be discussed in Austria
Legal framework of the Nabucco project seeking to supply Azerbaijani gas to Europe will be discussed during a meeting organized by the Nabucco Steering Committee in Austria on Monday.
The spokesman for the pipeline consortium, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, said the meeting aims to confirm the strong legal framework (IGA, PSA) of Nabucco and to rally political support for the European Union-backed project.
Christian Dolezal told Trend news agency that the meeting will be attended by the energy ministers of Nabucco transit countries -- Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. Turkish and Azerbaijani delegations will attend as well.
In June the consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development in the Caspian Sea selected Nabucco West as the single pipeline option for potential export of gas to be produced from the second stage of developing the giant field to Central Europe. Shah Deniz Stage 2 is expected to start in late 2017 or early 2018.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of the Nabucco project, which envisages construction of a pipeline from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria.
The project's shareholders are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ, each holding a 16.67 percent stake.
Besides Nabucco West, the Shah Deniz consortium currently considers another option to deliver gas to Europe -- Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Earlier this year the Shah Deniz consortium made TAP a priority route for export of Azerbaijani gas to Italy. The TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and further into western Europe.
The final decision on a pipeline route will be made in 2013.
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