Taner Yildiz

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Thursday that a Project Support Agreement, or PSA, would be clarified and signed.

Nabucco is a strategic and commercial effort supported politically by Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, the minister told reporters after a meeting in Ankara that was attended by representatives of all the countries participating in the pipeline project.

'Turkey is lending its full political support to Nabucco,' Yildiz said.

Reinhard Mitschek, a high-level executive with the project, said that an intergovernmental agreement had been signed for Nabucco in 2009 and that extremely crucial developments were expected this year. According to Mitschek, natural gas will start to flow through the pipeline in 2014.

The Turkish parliament on 4 March approved a bill on a deal signed with the other four countries to launch the Nabucco pipeline project, which will link Europe to the Caspian Sea region and is considered a key step toward reducing Europe’s energy dependence on Russia. Under the law approved by parliament, the pipeline will carry Caspian natural gas to Austria through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

Yildiz told lawmakers that the state-owned Turkish Pipeline Company, or BOTAS, and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, or TPAO, could create partnerships with international firms. 'Energy diplomacy is like chess. When you see a move, you have to make one as well,' he said.

Asked whether a new partner for the project was needed, Yildiz said Nabucco was an ever-developing project and would therefore always be open to new partnership deals. 'However, the new partner needs be at a level where it can provide full support and contribute something valuable to the project,' he said.

Werner Auli, a senior official of Austrian Gas Company OMW, a Nabucco partner, commented on source countries for the Nabucco project.

Auli said talks with Azerbaijan, a possible source country for the project continued, noting that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev extended support to the project two weeks ago. He said Aliyev was sympathetic to the idea of providing gas from the Caspian basin for the project

Auli said talks were also under way with Iraq to obtain gas from a massive gas field in the north of the country. He said another possible source could be Turkmenistan with whom the Nabucco consortium was also conducting talks.

He said Turkmenistan's president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, said he would also support the project.

'Iran in the long run may be an option for gas supplies, but not at the present time,' Auli said.

Nabucco and EU accession

Asked whether Nabucco would be a driving force in Turkey's accession negotiations with the EU, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said such projects could not be isolated from international affairs.

He said the opening of the energy chapter in the accession negotiations came up at the summit two weeks ago between Turkey and the EU president, Spain, adding that Turkey deserved to have chapter opened long ago.

'First of all Turkey is technically ready for electrical grid connection with EU countries. The second thing to bear in mind is that Turkey is a partner in a common project, such as Nabucco, which can come to the fore in international relations. Just like Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary. I don't think EU countries can remain indifferent to this,' said Yildiz.

Nabucco is estimated to cost 7.9 billion dollars. The pipeline will be a continuation of the already constructed Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and is designed to transport an annual 20-30 billion cubic metres of gas. Two-thirds of the pipeline will be built through Turkish territory.

The Nabucco consortium involves Turkey's BOTAS, Bulgaria Bulgarian Energy Holding, Hungary’s MOL Plc, the Austrian OMW Gas & Power GmbH, Germany's RWE and Romania's Transgaz. Each project partner has a 16.67% share.

Anatolia,  Turk Net,  RIA Novosti