The participants of Tuesday's Nabucco Summit in Budapest signed a declaration which expresses strong commitment to the gas pipeline project and a transparent and cost-based transmission regime along the pipeline, Xinhua reported.
Nabucco is the first pipeline that will connects the world's richest gas region-the Caspian region and the Middle East and Egypt-with the European natural gas market. The pipeline starts at the eastern border of Turkey, running through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to end in Baumgarten close to Vienna, Austria.
The participants encouraged foreign direct investment in the source and recipient countries. They called for the creation of energy partnership and cooperation among the European Union, Turkey, Georgia, and countries of the Caspian Sea region and the Middle East.
They supported energy conferences in Turkmenistan and Bulgaria in 2009, a "Southern Corridor Summit" to be organized by the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union on May 7, 2009, and the signing of an intergovernmental agreement at a Nabucco Conference in the first half of 2009 in Turkey.
Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany told a press conference that Tuesday's conference had given the project a new impetus, ending a several-year impasse, countries participating inthe summit would do their best to sign a relevant inter-governmental agreement, then negotiate for a preliminary accord with countries expected to supply the pipeline with natural gas.
Participants will try to win the highest level of European Union support for the project, including financing for at least the start-up phase, Gyurcsany said.
Mirek Topolanek of EU presidency Czech Republic said at the conference that building the Nabucco pipeline was a strategic project for the European Union which will not only secure energy supplies, but also serve the security and peace on the continent.
He said the price of natural gas was only one of many factors, and any lack of energy supplies could jeopardize Europe's independence. He also said the Nabucco is not an anti-Russian project. The Nabucco must succeed and the energy issue should not divide Europe, he added.
According to data released by Nabucco Gas Pipeline International Gmbh, the construction will start in 2011, first gas flow in 2014. The pipeline length is approximately 3,300 kilometers. According to market studies, the pipeline's annual capacity will be 31 bcm. Estimated construction costs are 7.9 billion euro.
In 2005 total European gas consumption amounted to 502 bcm, of which 290 bcm were imported from different sources. European gas demand is expected to increase considerably in the next two decades, while the European gas production is declining. Market studies indicate that in 2020 a volume of 25-30 bcm/y of natural gas pipeline transports from the Caspian region and Middle East is reasonable in order to cover the expected increase of European demands.
Delegations from more than 10 countries, together with representatives of several international organizations participated in the Nabucco summit on Tuesday.