Industry and Energy

Home page

Industry and Energy

Iraq gas may fill Nabucco for early launch

18 May 2009 13:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov â€“ APA-Economics. Gas from Iraq’s northern region would allow the Nabucco gas pipeline project to move gas to Europe by 2014, an official at Turkish state pipeline operator Botas, which is also a Nabucco shareholder, told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"The Iraqi region has important reserves, and gas produced there is crucial in realising the Nabucco project," a Botas official said.

"At the very least, it will allow for the procurement of the minimum amount of gas necessary for Nabucco to begin operating from 2014."

Nabuccoâ€™s partners Austria’s OMV AG and Hungary’s MOL said they would each take a 10 percent stake in an Iraqi gas production site operated by the sheikdom’s Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum to feed the route with Iraqi fuel.

Iraqi government spokesman rejected the validity of any deal without the government.

"Absolutely not. The standards of the Oil Ministry must be applied ... not any others," he said.

Until now, Nabucco had no committed gas sources, which has delayed the planned start date for the project. The pipeline has the political support of the European Union and the United States, which see it as a means to reduce Europe’s energy reliance on Russia. Europe receives about a quarter of its natural gas supply from Russia.