Azerbaijan, Baku, May 15 / Trend A.Badalova /
German utility RWE analyses the conditions of Nabucco gas pipeline project's new version (Nabucco West) and its ability to meet Europe's strategic goals, Barbara Minderjahn, Head of Communications & Public Affairs in RWE Supply & Trading told Trend.
Minderjahn said that the plans for new pipeline projects change general conditions for Nabucco project.
"We currently carefully analyze whether we can meet our commercial and strategic goals under these conditions," she said.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of Nabucco project, which envisages a construction of the pipeline from Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. According to the original conception of Nabucco project, 3,900-km pipeline will be laid from the Georgian-Turkish and Iraqi-Turkish borders to the Austrian Baumgarten.
The experts believe that Nabucco project's original conception lost the chances for implementation after Azerbaijan and Turkey announced the idea of building their own pipeline - Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border.
RWE however believes that Nabucco classic will be the best solution for all stakeholders, producers, customers, grid operators.
"With the original Nabucco project RWE wants to secure as much Caspian Gas for Europe and for Germany as possible," Minderjahn said.
She also stressed that the upcoming decisions of the Shah Deniz consortium on pipeline route will be very important for the company.
Currently the consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development considers options to export gas to the southern and central Europe, which include Nabucco West and SEEP. The pipeline route to Central European direction will be chosen by late June, 2012. The final decision on a pipeline route to export Azerbaijani gas to the European markets is expected to be made in 2013.
The current shareholders of Nabucco project are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ.