Archive
Nabucco: Ministerial Conference in Vienna. 26 June 2006
The Austrian Ministry for Economics and Labour invited for a Ministerial Conference for promoting the Nabucco Project in Vienna, at 26 June 2006.
- Participants: Ministers for Economy / Energy from all Nabucco-
countries, EC-representatives, CEOs of Nabucco-shareholders, IFI´s
representatives - Outcome: The energy ministers of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria
and Turkey together with Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs agreed
to speed up commercial, regulatory and legal works so as to build the
Nabucco gas pipeline in the shortest possible time. A joint declaration
was signed. The international press was heavily interested and reported
worldwide about the event.
Press articles ministerial conference June 2006
European Report - June 27, 2006 Tuesday
Boost for Nabucco gas pipeline
The Energy Ministers of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, together with EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, agreed on 26 June in Vienna to speed up commercial, regulatory and legal work to build the Nabucco gas pipeline, linking the Caspian Sea basin to South-Eastern Europe, in the shortest possible time. With a maximum annual capacity of 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas, supplies from the region could account for between 10% and 15% of the EU's natural gas consumption in 2025. |
SECTION: No. 3113
LENGTH: 86 words
Financial Times (London, England) - June 27, 2006 Tuesday
Plans for a 3.300-km pipeline to transport gas from the Caspian region to Europe yesterday secured political backing from the European Commission in a move which could bring the Dollars 5.8bn project closer to fruition. Andris Piebalgs, the European Union energy commissioner, together with ministers from the five countries that will be linked by the pipeline - Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria - signed a statement pledging to work to "successfully complete" the project. Mr Piebalgs said: "The EU will continue to support this project, notonly politically, but also (with finance) for feasibility studies." Coming ahead of next month's G8 summit in St Petersburg, the declaration sends a clear message to Moscow of the EU's intention to diversify its gassupplies and reduce it dependence on Russian gas. While the Nabucco project has been under discussion for several years, it has attracted increasing attention in the wake of the recent rises in global energy prices and the brief interruption in Russian gas supplies to Europe in January during a contract dispute with Ukraine. The scheme involves building a pipeline with a capacity of 25bn-31bn cubic metres a year to transport natural gas imported into Turkey from energy-rich states. The potential suppliers include Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan - as well as Russia which already supplies Turkey through a Black Sea pipeline. Iraq and Iran are also seen as possible sources, if the political problems involved can be resolved. The gas companies backing the scheme are Austria's OMV, Hungary's Mol, Transgaz of Romania, Bulgargaz of Bulgaria and Turkey's Botas. However, while they have carried out feasibility studies, they have yet to commit to financing the project. The European Commission sees Nabucco as one of four or five new pipelines needed to supply Europe over the next 20 years or so. A key challenge for the Nabucco consortium is securing exemptions from EU competition rules which require pipeline operators to grant open access to facilities at regulated prices. The Nabucco backers, which want to reduce risks by keep control of their pipeline and signing long-term contracts, will this summer apply for exemptions. Mr Piebalgs said every case would be judged on its merits but the political backing for Nabucco was in place. But even with exemptions, the project's future is not certain. BP, the oil group, which is the operator of Azerbaijan's major new offshore gas field, is due to complete in September a pipeline linking Azerbaijan and Turkey. But the first significant quantities of gas for export to Europe will not be available before 2012. Russia, which is opposed to the Nabucco project, has proposed building a westward spur to its Black Sea pipeline to take gas to Hungary. The Commission does not see such moves as threats but as useful alternatives. *Economy ministers from south-east Europe yesterday adopted a regional investment framework, designed to ease barriers to investment in the region. It will complement a multilateral trade agreement due to be signed later this year to promote intra-regional trade. Regional co-operation has been delayed by the legacy of the wars of the former Yugoslavia. But it is now steadily gathering pace, not least as governments in the region redouble efforts to prepare for future EU entry. |
BYLINE: By STEFAN WAGSTYL
SECTION: EUROPE; Pg 8
LENGTH: 556 words
DATELINE: VIENNA
The Wall Street Journal Asia - June 27, 2006 Tuesday
BRUSSELS -- European governments signed a declaration of support for a privately funded pipeline that would carry natural gas from the Caspian Sea region to the European Union, opening up an important alternative route to gas supplied by Russia. Energy ministers from Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey signed the declaration in Vienna for the so-called Nabucco project. Investors, each with a 20% stake, include Austria's OMV AG, Hungary's MOL, Turkey's state-run Botas, Bulgaria's Bulgargas and Romania's Transgaz SA Medias. While the pipeline has been long planned, government approval for such cross-border projects is crucial in reducing investment risks, said Peter Ramsay, an analyst at Petroleum Argus, a London-based energy publication. If completed, the pipeline would help to reduce the dominance of Russia's state-owned natural-gas monolith OAO Gazprom over the supply of gas to Southern and Eastern Europe. "This clears up any doubts on the part of the investors. It's saying we're committed," added a European Commission official. The pipeline's investors have yet to commit to a final deal, but construction is scheduled to begin in 2008 and finish around 2011. |
BYLINE: By Xiyun Yang
SECTION: ECONOMY & POLITICS; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 293 words
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Stories
Xinhua General News Service - June 27, 2006 Tuesday
Energy officials back pipeline project for transporting gas to EU
| Energy officials from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria and the European Commission signed here on Monday a common declaration to support the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline, according to a statement released by Austria's economics and labor ministry. "With today's signed common declaration, the representatives of the participating states and the European Commission have sent a clear political signal of support for the Nabucco project," said Austrian Economics Minister Martin Bartenstein, whose country holds the rotating European Union (EU) presidency. The pipeline was initiated by the European Parliament and the European Council in June 2003. It would pump Caspian region and Middle East gas to the EU via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria and is the EU's most important energy project. According to the statement, the 3,300-km-long pipeline has an estimated cost of 4.6 billion euros (about 5.8 billion U.S. dollars) and is scheduled to be operative in 2011. It has the capacity to transport 25 billion cubic meters of gas a year. "The European Commission welcomes the Nabucco project and will try to help solve the technical and economic problems of transporting gas into the EU over different routes," EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said in the same statement.
BYLINE: By Xiyun Yang << back |