[u]Nabucco Pipeline Project[/u]
The Nabucco-West pipeline (also referred to as the Turkey–Austria gas pipeline) is a proposed natural gas pipeline from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. It is a modification of the original Nabucco Pipeline project, which was to run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March in Austria. The aim of the Nabucco pipeline is to diversify the natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe, thus reducing European dependence on Russian energy.
The original project was backed by several European Union member states and by the United States, and was seen as a rival to the South Stream pipeline project. The main supplier was expected to be Iraq, with potential supplies from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Egypt.
The main supply for the Nabucco West was to be Shah Deniz gas through the proposed Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP).
The project is being developed by a consortium of six companies. Preparations started in 2002 and the intergovernmental agreement between Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria was signed on 13 July 2009. After an announcement of the construction of TANAP, the consortium has submitted the Nabucco-West project. Construction of Nabucco-West depended on the gas export route decision by the Shah Deniz consortium. After Shah Deniz consortium decision to prefer the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline over Nabucco, Nabucco’s shareholders have to decide the next steps for the project.
The Nabucco project is backed by the European Union and the United States. In the Trans-European Networks - Energy (TEN - E) programme, the Nabucco pipeline is designated as a project of strategic importance. An objective of the project is to connect the European Union better to the natural gas sources in the Caspian Sea and the Middle East regions.
The project has been driven by the intention to diversify its current energy supplies, and to lessen European dependence on Russian energy—the biggest supplier of gas to Europe. The Russia–Ukraine gas disputes have been one of the factors driving the search for alternative suppliers, sources, and routes.
Moreover, as per the European Commission, Europe’s gas consumption is expected to increase from 502 billion cubic metres, in 2005, to 815 billion cubic metres in 2030, which would mean Russia alone would not be able to meet the demand.
The original 3,893 kilometres (2,419 mi) long pipeline was to run from Ahiboz in Turkey via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria.
In Ahiboz, it would be joined with two feeder lines, one connecting to Georgia in the north (South Caucasus Pipeline), and the other connecting to Iraq (pipeline to be built) in the southeast.
It would be fed also from the Tabriz–Ankara pipeline. 2,730 kilometres (1,700 mi) of the pipeline was to be laid in Turkey, 412 kilometres (256 mi) in Bulgaria, 469 kilometres (291 mi) in Romania, 384 kilometres (239 mi) in Hungary, and 47 kilometres (29 mi) in Austria.
According to Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, construction of the pipeline was scheduled to begin in 2013 and would become operational by 2017. However, in June 2013, the Shah Deniz Consortium had chosen a rival project, Trans Adriatic Pipeline, that has a route Turkey–Greece-Albania-Italy, and the future of Nabucco project is unclear.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabucco_pipeline
Trans Adriatic Pipeline