Doubts over central Asian commitment to Nabucco raised

Lack of commitment from central Asian countries to supply the gas pipeline Nabucco project with natural gas is clouding the project’s future, argue industry experts.

November 2009 - From the Print Edition

“There is not enough driving force in central Asian countries to get involved in these projects or in exporting, so why invest in infrastructure?” said Alain Przybysz, vice president for Caspian Sea-Central Asia at oil and gas giant Total.
Source countries from the region for natural gas could include Azerbaidjan, Turkmenistan, Iraq and possibly Iran.
Meanwhile Yagshygeldi Kakaev, director for the state agency for mineral resources of Turkmenistan, said his country is ready to enter the European market to supply gas.
Turkmenistan has the fourth largest reserves of natural gas in the world. It supplies Russia and Iran and has just closed a deal to supply China by the end of the year.
Romania continues to be one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Nabucco. “Romania has promoted the Nabucco project among all Caspian countries and signed agreements with all of them,” said Tudor Serban, secretary of state in Romania’s Ministry of Economy. “One country in central Asia has told Romania it can deliver 7.3 billion cubic metres to the Nabucco pipeline.” This would be possible if the Nabucco pipeline started ahead of the competing proposition, the South Stream pipeline from Russia to central Europe.
The Nabucco pipeline is designed to have a maximum transportation capacity of 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually, while South Stream is projected to supply twice as much.
There is also movement for compromise such as including Russia within Nabucco’s architecture. “The best thing would be to negotiate or consult with Russia to add value to Nabucco project,” added Alexander Khetaguri, the Energy Minister of Georgia.
Meanwhile Dinu Patriciu, ex-owner of oil and gas group Rompetrol, does not favour multi-lateral pipeline projects. “I hate pipelines because they are long-term projects with low returns in which politics is highly involved,” he said.