Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 25 / Trend A.Badalova /
Austria's oil and gas company OMV regards the Nabucco gas pipeline project as a priority, OMV Chief Executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer was quoted as saying by Reuters today.
According to the company official, Austria and OMV are also interested in the South Stream pipeline project.
"However, we always regard Nabucco as our priority," he said." "Thanks to Nabucco, South and Central Europe will have new gas via a new route."
OMV is one of six shareholders and the operator of the Nabucco pipeline project designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to the EU. Construction is expected to launch in 2011 and should end in 2014. The project's maximum capacity is 31 billion cubic meters per year. Nabucco shareholders are the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE with 16.67 percent each.
In early November, Federal Chancellor of Austria Werner Faymann visited Moscow. During his trip, he mulled Austria's participation in the South Stream project.
South Stream provides for the delivery of Russian gas to South and Central Europe across the Black Sea. The project's main participants are Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI. The pipeline is expected to launch in 2015. Its maximum capacity will be 63 billion cubic meters per year.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: [email protected]