Azerbaijan, Baku, May 13 /Trend, A.Badalova/
The Nabucco Gas Pipeline International is optimistic about the issue of construction of Trans-Caspian pipeline that will transport Turkmen gas to Europe.
"We are very optimistic that a Trans-Caspian pipeline will be also realized after Nabucco has firm supply commitments from the suppliers," Christian Dolezal, official representative of Nabucco project, wrote in an e-mail to Trend.
The construction of this pipeline would make economical very much sense for all parties involved, said Dolezal.
Being on an official visit to Bucharest this week, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov announced his readiness to cooperate with the EU in the gas sector. The President called "an important condition for mutually beneficial energy cooperation the political will of the parties involved, which should be framed as an agreement between the EU, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan."
Romanian President Traian Basescu, in turn, stressed the importance of building the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline to ensure reliability and security of energy supplies to Europe.
Trans-Caspian gas pipeline is considered as an integral part of the Nabucco project, designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU. The 300-kilometer-gas pipeline will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan where it will join to the transportation routes of the Southern Energy Corridor. Talks between Turkmenistan and the European Union and other countries on the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline have been conducted since late 90s. Its construction is now difficult because of the unresolved issue of the status of the Caspian Sea.
During his visit to Romania, the President of Turkmenistan has also expressed interest in his country's participating in the pipeline project AGRI (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector). As stated in a joint statement after the talks with Basescu, the two sides noted the importance of supplies of Turkmen natural gas to Europe, including through Nabucco and AGRI projects that are priority for Romania.
The Nabucco project consortium does not see any danger in the participation of Turkmenistan in the AGRI project.
AGRI is a complementary project to Nabucco and has no impact at all on our timeline, said Dolezal.
AGRI project envisages transporting Azerbaijani natural gas through pipelines to the Black Sea coast of Georgia (Kulevi Port), where a terminal for its liquefaction will be built. Further, the LNG will be transported by tankers to the terminal in the Romanian Port of Constanta for re-gasification and then, in the form of natural gas, will be available to customers in Romania and Hungary (Arad-Szeged interconnector) and in the future, and for other European countries.
It is expected that Turkmenistan, participating in the project as a supplier, could supply liquefied natural gas across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan for its further transit to Europe.
AGRI project cost can vary from 1.2 billion to 4.5 billion euros.
The main suppliers for the Nabucco project are considered Azerbaijan, Iraq and Turkmenistan. Nabucco project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU countries. The project is worth 7.9 billion euro, with its construction planned to start in 2013 and the first supplies to be commissioned in 2017. The project's participants include the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE.
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