New talks about Nabucco in Bucharest

The Minister of the Economy, Adriean Videanu, met with Joschka Fischer, the political advisor of RWE for Nabucco, in order to discuss current aspects of the Nabucco project, as well as the priority elements which need to be considered in order to help the gas pipeline become operational. The minister of the Economy considered that support from all the countries that signed the Nabucco agreement is essential, in order to determine which countries will serve as providers of natural gas, referring to the recent efforts by Romanian authorities to expand cooperation in the energy sector with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

According to Trend News Agency, an agreement between Turkey and Iran for supplying natural gas can provide additional resources to the Nabucco project. Turkey"s dream of becoming Europe"s gas provider relies on the expansion of its cooperation in the energy sector with Iran, the source said. Considering the sanctions that the US and the EU imposed on Iran, it is unlikely that Europe will acquire Iranian gas directly, Trend News Agency says. At this stage, Iran could only supply Europe with gas, by having Turkey re-export it.

The Nabucco project, worth 7.9 billion Euros, will deliver gas to Europe from Azerbaijan and Central Asia. Nabucco"s shareholders are OMV Austria, MOL Hungary, Bulgargaz Bulgaria, Transgaz Romania, Botas Turkey and RWE Germany, each with a 16.67% stake. The construction of the pipeline is expected to begin in 2011 and deliveries in 2014. The pipeline will have a maximum output of 31 billion cubic meters/year.