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EU changes position on Nabucco

24 November 2011 16:28 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA-Economics. Azeri gas will flow in significant quantities into the European Union through the route labelled the Southern Corridor, Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in an interview, but stopped short of full endorsement of the Nabucco pipeline project, Gulf Times reported.

Nabucco has long been regarded as the Commissionâ€™s dream scheme for improving security of supply and reducing dependence on gas from Russia. It has been undermined by spiralling cost estimates and delays.

Asked whether he was confident Nabucco could go ahead, Oettinger replied he had faith in the route the EU hopes can carry non-Russian gas into southern Europe.

â€œIâ€™m confident of opening the Southern Corridor, but itâ€™s primarily up to the Shah Deniz Consortium to decide to whom they want to sell their gas,â€ he said.
A decision on which of several rival schemes, including Nabucco, would be awarded gas from Azerbaijanâ€™s Shah Deniz would probably be made around February, he said.

â€œIâ€™m sure there will be interesting volumes of gas from the Caspian region to Europe,â€ Oettinger said.

Since the inception of the Nabucco project, much has changed in the global gas market, including the commercial viability of unconventional gas from shale.
â€œInvestment in infrastructure is not so bankable as five years ago,â€ Oettinger said.

The Commission has already said it was receptive to talks on combining pipelines competing to bring gas from Shah Deniz.