Nabucco fill from Azerbaijan and Iraq

Nabucco gas pipeline to Europe bypassing Russia in the first stage will be filled with gas from Azerbaijan and Iraq. Initiator of the project, Austria”s OMV, is ready to refrain from purchasing gas in Central Asia, as Russia remains a major impact on Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. But for the Azeri gas to Nabucco participants also have to fight with Russia.

yesterday in Vienna at the European Conference on Gas board member of the Austrian oil and gas group OMV Werner Auli said that the transportation of natural gas to Europe with gas and condensate offshore Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and the fields in northern Iraq to ensure the profitability of the Nabucco gas pipeline and the absence of other sources of gas. According to a top manager, with 2015 expected to annually produce at least 8 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan and the same from Iraq. Results in the first phase of Nabucco is planned to deliver 17 billion cubic meters of gas (another 1 billion cubic meters - from Egypt).

Nabucco gas pipeline length of 3.3 thousand km will be held from Turkey via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to the Austrian hub Baumgarten. Shareholders of the project - Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Romanian Transgaz, Bulgarian Bulgarian Energy Holding, a Turkish BOTAS and the German RWE (by 16,67%). Capacity - 31 billion cubic meters. Cost - 7.9 billion euros. It is the main competitor of a similar project Russia”s South Stream.

At the same time, Azerbaijan sells gas and with Russia, and Gazprom is also counting on stocks of Shah-Deniz field. And if Russia has already begun to import Azeri gas through the deployment in reverse existing pipelines, the Austrians offered to supply this gas to the Baku-Erzurum gas pipeline capacity to 20 billion cubic meters. In addition, the gas of Azerbaijan expects Romania: January 25, Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri suggested that the Ministry of Economy of Romania to build LNG plant to export gas from Azerbaijan.

“We signed a contract for the purchase of gas in Azerbaijan at a level that the state oil company of Azerbaijan is ready to deliver”, - explained the official representative of “Gazprom” Sergei Kupriyanov. This year it comes to buying 1 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011 - has about 2 billion cubic meters. Head of East European Gas Analysis Michael Korchemkin believes that in 2015 at the Shah Deniz field will be to produce 10.12 billion cubic meters of gas, and the country will be able to satisfy the requests of several customers.

However, in his opinion, the supply of Azeri gas through Turkey will be more profitable than through Russia. Maxim Shein of BrokerCreditService notes that Russia is trying to choose a maximum export capacity in Azerbaijan for gas. Moscow will try not to give up competing Caspian gas pipeline, the analyst believes.

shareholders of Nabucco in early 2009 hoping for the purchase of Turkmen and Kazakh gas. Russia has always actively opposed it, and in early 2009, even gave the Turkmen Central European purchase price of over $ 300 per thousand cubic meters. However, ine12the spring of relations sharply deteriorated. In April, Gazprom cut off purchases of Turkmen gas in 2010 is going to get only 11 billion cubic meters of gas, but used to buy about 40 billion cubic meters.

applicants for the Iraqi gas less. “In Iraq, we initially did not even counted,” - explained Mr. Auli. In summer 2009, the head of board of directors of OMV, Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer in an interview told me that “Iraq has proven reserves of gas in the exploration of which OMV has participated, and based on them need to build production capacity and in part - a gas pipeline.” This is the old pipeline from Iraq to Turkey along the coast, was destroyed during the hostilities in Iraq and since then does not work. We OMV by the operator for the development of gas fields of Iraq has 10%.