Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan 9 /Trend A.Taghieva/
According to the energy expert at the Turkish Center for International Strategic Studies USAK, Guner Ozkan, Project South Stream and Nabucco can not be considered as competing, because each of them has its own market. "Nabucco and the South Stream are two independent projects, each of which has its own objectives and markets" Guner Ozkan told Trend.
Experts noted that the agreement on South Stream gas pipeline will create additional conditions for the realization of Nabucco, since as a consequence all energy projects in the region acquire clear shape.
Ankara and Moscow signed an agreement on the provision of inland waters to Turkey in December 2011 to implement the South Stream project. This project is implemented in order to diversify the routes of natural gas to European consumers and involves the construction of a pipeline across the Black Sea to the South and Central Europe. The total design capacity of the offshore section of the South Stream is 63 billion cubic meters a year.
Ozcan also said that the agreement with Russia will not prevent the implementation of Nabucco. The main indicator of this is the agreement signed earlier with Azerbaijan on the building of a gas pipeline TANAP (Transanatolian pipeline).
Ozkan also noted that the main problem for the realization of Nabucco isn't the other energy project, but growing tensions between Iran and the West, which could affect the entire Caspian region.
The project Nabucco is intended to transport natural gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to the EU. Its construction is scheduled to begin in 2013, with commissioning in 2017. Its maximum capacity is 31 billion cubic meters per year. Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, and German RWE are the participants of Nabucco.