Azerbaijan, Baku, July 19 / Trend A. Badalova /
Concerns were expressed in connection with the project Nabucco gas pipeline designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU countries. They were repeatedly expressed due to insufficient volumes of gas for the pipeline and the unsolved financing of the project.
Nabucco is a priority project for the European Union. It is trying to increase its energy security through diversification of routes and sources of supply by its implementation. The project "Nabucco", in reality, is a strategic project and represents the EU's importance in terms of reducing dependence on Russian gas. Moreover, it is of great interest for gas-producing countries. In particular, the project gives an opportunity to the countries such as Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to diversify their export routes and open direct access to the European market.
From this point of view, the interest of gas suppliers to participate in this project is clear and is beyond doubt. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and even Iran repeatedly expressed willingness to participate in the project. Iran is not regarded as a supplier of gas to the pipeline because of political issues now.
Nevertheless, a number of unsolved issues on the project hinders potential suppliers from the beginning of the negotiations and conclusion of contracts to supply gas to the shareholders. Azerbaijan should have a final investment decision on the project to start talks with the shareholders of the Nabucco project worth 7.9 billion euros. As to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, the main constraint is the lack of infrastructure that would deliver Central Asian gas through this pipeline.
Kazakhstan once again expressed its interest in participating in the Nabucco project last week. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan has never been against the project "Nabucco". However, the president said that the question is that the European Union is doing nothing to realize the project besides talking. It is necessary to lay a gas pipeline through the Caspian Sea via the Caucasus for the country to participate in the project, Kazakh president said.
Nazarbayev's words can be considered as an attempt to accelerate the implementation of the Nabucco project and push the EU to take concrete actions. Its construction is scheduled for 2011. Nazarbayev has made it clear that the main problem for the project is not the lack of gas but its transportation routes. Maximal capacity of the pipeline will amount to 31 billion cubic meters a year. The first supplies will be made in 2014.
One of decisions to transport Central Asian gas via the gas pipeline "Nabucco, without which its implementation is impossible, is the construction of a 300 kilometer-Trans-Caspian gas pipeline through the Caspian Sea. At present, the construction of this pipeline is constrained due to the unresolved question of the status of the Caspian Sea.
According to BP, the proven gas reserves in Kazakhstan in early 2010 amounted to 1.82 trillion cubic meters. Gas production in the country in 2009 amounted to 32.2 billion cubic meters, which is 8.6 percent more than in 2008. Demand for gas in the country last year amounted to 19.6 billion cubic meters.
Despite such large volumes of gas production, Kazakh gas supplies via Nabucco pipeline remain in doubt, given the lack of necessary infrastructure.
Kazakhstan has a limited amount of available resources due to the implementation of major gas projects, which require significant amounts of hydrocarbons, Director of the Multilateral Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Meiram Kanapyanov said.
Most part of Kazakhstan's gas reserves is located in the eastern part of the country. More than a half of the proven gas reserves lies in the Karachaganak field. According to the State U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), it has proven gas reserves to the amount of 1.37 trillion cubic meters. According to the forecasts of the Kazakh Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the total gas production in 2015 can reach 57 billion cubic meters.