Azernews.Az

He called this option "very real", emphasizing that the country possesses considerable gas reserves in its northern part, including the Anbar province.
Bryza suggested that the Central Asian states Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan join the project, as Azerbaijan's gas reserves would not suffice for the NABUCCO pipeline.
"I am confident that we will not face any problems with territory while implementing the project. Russia and Turkey used their own waters when building the Blue Stream pipeline and this wasn't a problem. I believe this will be the case when NABUCCO participants lay a conduit under the Caspian Sea," the assistant secretary said.
The Western-backed project will help European countries to diversify supplies of energy and reduce dependence on Russian gas, and bring Azerbaijan considerable transit revenues.
Zeyno Baran, director of the Nixon Center's International Security and Energy Programs and Hudson Institute scholar, spoke in favor of Iraq's participation in the NABUCCO project as well. As for Iran, she said its joining the initiative was also possible, but this would not go down well with the U.S.
Washington is facing tensions with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.
Azerbaijani Minister of Energy and Industry Natig Aliyev said transit states should support the NABUCCO project. "Their leaders would demonstrate political solidarity by backing it," he told reporters.
Aliyev reminded that Baku backed the project, stressing the importance of the state oil company SOCAR's participation in it. He noted that implementation of the project should, first of all, be of interest to Europe.
"Azerbaijan is flush with oil and gas resources. Europe should step up its initiatives in using the Caspian Sea [for supplies], which is increasingly turning into a center of oil and gas production," he said.
According to preliminary estimates, $5.8bn is needed to build the NABUCCO conduit. Building the 3,300-km long pipeline under the Caspian Sea may take until 2011-2012. The pipe's annual throughput capacity is estimated at 31bn cu. m.
The conduit by-passing Russia is to pump gas from the Caspian region, the Middle East and Central Asia to Europe - via Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria.