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Matthew Bryza: U.S. is not against Russiaâ€™s presence in Nabucco project

16 June 2007 11:27 (UTC +04:00)

The U.S. is not against the participation of Russia in the Nabucco project on commercial terms, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza said, APA reports quoting Reuters.
â€œIf our partners in Europe feel themselves safe and agree suitable commercial agreement with Russia, it is a very good idea. We want the project participants to have good relations with Russia,â€ US diplomat underlined.
The Nabucco pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline that is planned to transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. Construction of the 3,300-kilometre pipeline is expected to begin in 2008 and is planned to be finished in 2011. The construction work, estimated to cost 4.6 billion EUR (5.8 billion USD), is to be shared between the five gas companies in each of the countries. The company leading the project is OMV from Austria. The transport capacity of the pipeline will reach up to 30 billion cubic meters per year in the long term, around or after 2020.
Nabucco Pipeline will be connected near Erzurum with the Tabriz-Erzurum pipeline, and with the South Caucasus Pipeline, connecting Nabucco Pipeline with the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline. Once completed, it would allow transportation of natural gas from producers in the Middle East and Caspian region such as Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to Western Europe and to the countries along its path. The western end of the pipeline will be Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. /APA/