Turkey, EU agree on site for start of Nabucco - source (Mar 22, 2008)

Mar 22, 2008 (Romania Report using Reuters material)

ANKARA, March 21 - Turkey and the European Union have agreed on a site near Ankara for the start of the Nabucco pipeline, planned to carry natural gas to Europe, a high level Turkish energy ministry official told Reuters on Friday.

The EU will provide financial support for the planned site near Ankara at Ahiboz, the official said, which will fund the necessary natural gas facilities.

Gas supplies for the project have thus far only been secured in Azerbaijan.

"The European Union's support, including financial support, will help build the physical infrastructure that will turn Ahiboz into an energy hub," said the official.

Apart from the Nabucco project, Turkey has also said it wants to export gas to third countries.

The official did not specify how large the EU's financial support would be.

The 4.6 billion euro Nabucco pipeline is expected to carry 21 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from the Caspian region toEU consumers in order to lessen Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

Construction is expected to begin in 2010 and gas is expected to begin flowing by 2013.

Until the addition of German company RWE early last month, the Nabucco consortium was equally owned by oil and gas companies in the transit countries -- Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Turkey's Botas, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz and Romania's Transgaz. Gaz de France also expressed vivid interest to join Nabucco – as President Nicolas Sarkozy told President Traian Basescu, during his recent visit in Bucharest, Romania –, while the Russian giant Gazprom repeatedly claimed a share in the project



Romania Report (using Reuters material)