Azerbaijan, Baku, June 28 /Trend/
EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger welcomes the decision of the Shah Deniz Consortium for the "Nabucco West" pipeline, says a statement placed Thursdau on the official website of the European Union.
The consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development selected Nabucco West as the single pipeline option for the potential export of Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas to Central Europe, the joint statement of BP and SOCAR said Thursday.
"With this pre-selection, we are a step closer to getting gas directly from Azerbaijan and other countries in the Caspian region. Whatever the final decision on the whole route from the Eastern part of Turkey to Europe, Azerbaijani gas is certain to come to Europe", Oettinger said.
He called the decision "a success for Europe and for our security of supply".
Oettinger also welcomed signature of the Inter Government Agreement and the Host Government Agreement to implement the Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline (TANAP) signed between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of Nabucco project, which envisages construction of the pipeline from Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. Gas to be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development is considered as the main source for the project. The current shareholders of Nabucco project are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ.
The final decision on a pipeline route to export Azerbaijani gas to the European markets is expected to be made by Shah Deniz Consortium in 2013.
This week Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP. The document was signed by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The agreement was also signed by Azerbaijani Minister of Industry and Energy Natig Aliyev and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz.
TANAP project envisages construction of the pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border to supply gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey. BOTAS has a 20-percent stake in TANAP, while the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) holds 80 percent in the project.
The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters. Some 6 billion cubic meters of the volume will be supplied to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to Europe.