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EU energy commissioner: Key role in providing Nabucco pipeline is given to Azerbaijan (UPDATE)

Oil&Gas Materials 15 April 2010 19:59 (UTC +04:00)
The European Union hopes that by the end of this year a decision will be made on the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline, EU Energy commissioner Günther Oettinger said in Baku after a meeting with the Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Natik Aliyev.
EU energy commissioner: Key role in providing Nabucco pipeline is given to Azerbaijan (UPDATE)

Updated after fifth paragraph

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 15 /Trend E.Ismayilov/

The European Union hopes that by the end of this year a decision will be made on the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline, EU Energy commissioner Günther Oettinger said in Baku after a meeting with the Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Natik Aliyev.

According to Oettinger, a key role in providing gas to the Nabucco pipeline is given to Azerbaijan, which can provide significant part of the pipeline.

Turkmenistan is considered as a second gas supplier for the Nabucco pipeline. According to Oettinger, during his meeting with the leadership of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat expressed willingness to provide the missing volumes for the pipeline.
Neither Iran nor Iraq are considered as the third and fourth gas suppliers for Nabucco at the moment, because Iran is now itself imports gas, and in my opinion, in the near future Iran will not be able to act as an exporter," said the Commissioner .

Also one of the reasons that these countries are not considered as suppliers for Nabucco is the tense political situation in Iran and Iraq.

According to Oettinger, for the implementation of the Nabucco project, there should be the political will of the transit countries, EU member countries, as well as gas supplying countries.

The European Union stands ready to assist in solving transit issues between Azerbaijan and Turkey in order to address these issues on a mutually beneficial basis.

There are plans to hold a conference on Nabucco by the autumn, which will discuss all issues concerning the implementation of this project.

According to Oettinger, Azerbaijan is also a producer of petroleum products. These energy resources are very important for 500-million Europe. According to him, Europe has advanced technologies that can create conditions for cooperation between the sides.

The Nabucco project is very important both for Azerbaijan and the European Union, said the Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Natik Aliyev. The sides must work together in order to realize this project. In particular, environmental impact of the project must be conducted, accurate assessment must be made for volumes of gas that can be provided by the suppliers and the sources of gas supply must be specified.

According to Aliyev, Azerbaijan has sufficient recoverable gas reserves which are estimated at 2.2 trillion cubic meters. Even if only the existing fields are developed, without any other technological changes, the republic may provide gas to itself for 100 years.

The existing gas reserves should be operated, and therefore, Azerbaijan needs new markets, the minister said.

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