Nabucco, TANAP ink cooperation accord

VIENNA - Reuters

The Nabucco consortium has signed a deal with Turkey’s Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) to exchange strategic informations to support their projects. Company photo

The Nabucco consortium competing to build a pipeline to bring Azeri gas to Europe said yesterday it had signed a cooperation deal with Turkey’s Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).

Nabucco said the two parties had agreed to exchange technical and other strategic information to support the development of their projects, which will connect at the Turkish-Bulgarian border if the Nabucco project is chosen.

The MoU also highlights the need for further diversification of natural gas transportation routes to improve reliability and diversification of gas supplies to the European Union and the South Eastern Europe regions.

“This MoU cements the relationship between two integral parts of the Southern gas corridor, bringing us one step closer to achieving our joint goal of diversifying Europe’s gas supplies,” Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director of NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International GmbH commented.

“In the coming months, all parts of the value chain connecting Shah Deniz gas to European consumers will work together to align project schedules in order to achieve the maximum commercial benefits for all stakeholders,” Frank Siebert, CFO of NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International GmbH added.

Nabucco is competing with the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) to carry natural gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II gas field to half a billion potential consumers in Europe, reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

TANAP will bring the gas from Azerbaijan to the European edge of Turkey, to connect with either Nabucco or TAP.

Shah Deniz operators to choose one of two

The operators of the Shah Deniz field - BP, Statoil , Azeri state energy firm SOCAR, Total and others - have an equity option on both rival projects. They have said they will choose one by June.

The chosen project will bring billions of dollars of investment to the countries through which the pipeline will travel - Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria in the case of Nabucco West, and Greece, Albania and Italy if TAP is chosen.

The Nabucco consortium’s other members are Austria’s OMV, Hungary’s MOL Turkey’s Botas, Bulgaria’s BEH and Romania’s Transgaz.

TAP’s members are Switzerland’s AXPO Holding, Statoil and Germany’s E.ON Ruhrgas.