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Turkish Prime Minister: Azerbaijanâ€™s share in Nabucco may rise to 25%

08 December 2009 10:09 (UTC +04:00)

Nabucco is planned to be a 3,300-kilometre (2,050-mile) pipeline running from the Caspian Sea via Turkey and the Balkan states to Austria.
After the meeting Erdogan told a press-conference that as the main transit country through which the pipeline will run, his country remains committed to provide any support for the project.
According to him, Azerbaijan and Turkey are in negotiations on the gas supply and transit issues.
â€œAzerbaijan should understand Turkeyâ€™s point of view in these issues. Currently, Azerbaijanâ€™s share for Nabucco is 10%, but of course may reach about 25%.... We explained our hesitations. Is Azerbaijan ready to resolve these issues? We should keep that in mind. There are other heavyweight partners here like Statoil, Total, BP. They should have their say,â€ he added.
In his words, as a transit country Turkey has some sensitivity because the pipeline will run about 1,400 kilometers across Turkey.
Azerbaijan is seen as a crucial potential provider for the Nabucco pipeline, construction of which is scheduled to begin in 2009, with the completion date set for 2013-2014.
The pipeline will transport 31 billion cubic metres of gas to the energy-hungry EU from the Middle East and Asia so as to reduce the blocâ€™s reliance on Russian supplies.
Turkish AKP Party deputy chairman and former minister of trade Kursad Tuzmen, who is in Washington as part of the prime-ministerâ€™s delegation, told APAâ€™s correspondent that the negotiations are currently going on increasing the participation of Azerbaijani gas from 10% to 25%.
He expressed his sureness that the negotiations on Nabucoo pipeline between Turkey and Azerbaijan will be successful.
â€œI assure you, we can find a way to settle the prices on gas between our countriesâ€¦. I donâ€™t see any difficult, not possible for discussion and adjustment problem on Nabucoo,â€ he added.