Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH

The Nabucco pipeline (also referred as Turkey–Austria gas pipeline) was a failed natural gas pipeline project from Erzurum, Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, Austria to diversify natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The pipeline was to lessen European dependence on Russian energy. The project was backed by several European Union states and the United States and was seen as rival to the Gazprom-Eni South Stream pipeline project. The main supplier was to be Iraq with potential supplies from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Egypt.

The project was developed by a consortium of six companies. Preparations started in 2002 and the intergovernmental agreement between Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria was signed on 13 July 2009. After an announcement of the construction of TANAP, the consortium submitted the Nabucco-West project, which was to run from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria.

It was a modification of the original Nabucco Pipeline project. The main supply for Nabucco-West was to be the Shah Deniz gas through the now operational Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).

After the Shah Deniz consortium decided to prefer the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline over Nabucco, the Nabucco pipeline plan was finally aborted in June 2013.

Motivation

The Nabucco project was backed by the European Union and the United States.

In the Trans-European Networks – Energy ( TEN-E) programme, the Nabucco pipeline is designated as a project of strategic importance.

An objective of the project is to connect the European Union better to the natural gas sources in the Caspian Sea and the Middle East regions.

The project has been driven by the intention to diversify its current energy supplies, and to lessen European dependence on Russian energy—the biggest supplier of gas to Europe.

The Russia–Ukraine gas disputes have been one of the factors driving the search for alternative suppliers, sources, and routes.

Moreover, as per the European Commission, Europe's gas consumption is expected to increase from 502 billion cubic meters, in 2005, to 815 billion cubic meters in 2030, which would mean Russia alone would not be able to meet the demand.

South Eastern Europe is important as many of the regions are heavily dependent on Russian gas imports. Nabucco aims to diversify the gas supply to increase competition and security. Simon Pirani, senior research fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies presented to delegates at the Ukrainian Energy Forum in 2013 a list of prices from the Russian newspaper Izvestia: "What they show is the prices at which Russian gas is being purchased in different European countries, and this tells quite a simple story. If you're in Eastern Europe, and you are quite heavily dependent on Russian gas, you pay more than $500/TCM; if you're in the UK, where we have a pretty much complete domination of gas-to-gas market, you pay $300, or $370+ in Germany, which is somewhere in between."

History

Preparations for the Nabucco project started in February 2002 when first talks took place between Austrian OMV and Turkish BOTAŞ. In June 2002, five companies (OMV of Austria, MOL Group of Hungary, Bulgargaz of Bulgaria, Transgaz of Romania and BOTAŞ of Turkey) signed a protocol of intention to construct the Nabucco pipeline. The protocol followed by the cooperation agreement in October 2002. The name '' Nabucco'' comes from the same famous opera of Giuseppe Verdi, that the five partners had listened to at the Vienna State Opera after this meeting.

In December 2003, the European Commission awarded a grant in the amount of 50% of the estimated total eligible cost of the feasibility study including market analysis, and technical, economic and financial studies. On 28 June 2005, the joint venture agreement was signed by five Nabucco partners. The ministerial statement on the Nabucco pipeline was signed on 26 June 2006 in Vienna.

On 12 September 2007, Jozias van Aartsen was nominated by the European Commission as the Nabucco project coordinator.

In February 2008, German RWE became a shareholder of the consortium.

On 11 June 2008, the first contract to supply gas from Azerbaijan through the Nabucco pipeline to Bulgaria was signed.

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev confirmed on 29 January 2009, that Azerbaijan was planning to at least double its gas production in the coming five years to supply the pipeline.

On 12 April 2009, the Minister of Energy of Turkey Hilmi Güler confirmed that Turkey is ready to sign a deal, provided that Turkey gets 15% of the natural gas to be carried through the Nabucco pipeline.

On 27 January 2009, the Nabucco Summit held in Budapest.

On 24–25 April 2009, the Nabucco pipeline was discussed, among other energy issues, at the high-level energy summit in Sofia, and on 8 May 2009, at the Southern Corridor Summit in Prague.

The intergovernmental agreement between Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria was signed by five prime ministers on 13 July 2009 in Ankara.

The European Union was represented at the ceremony by the President Jose Manuel Barroso and the Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs, and the United States was represented by Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard Morningstar and Ranking Member of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Senator Richard Lugar.

Hungary ratified the agreement on 20 October 2009.

Bulgaria ratified the agreement on 3 February 2010.

Romania ratified the agreement on 16 February 2010.

Turkey became the final country ratifying the agreement on 4 March 2010.

The legal framework set up by the intergovernmental agreement was strengthened further with the signing in 2011 of the Project Support Agreements (PSAs) between Nabucco and each of the Transit countries. The main elements of the PSAs are the affirmation of an advantageous regulatory transit regime under EU law; the protection of the Nabucco Pipeline from potential discriminatory changes in the law; and support for legislative and administrative actions for the further implementation of the project.

In May 2012, the Nabucco consortium submitted a Nabucco-West proposal to the Shah Deniz consortium. On 10 January 2013, Nabucco International and Shah Deniz partners signed a funding agreement. According to the agreement, Shah Deniz partners will take a 50% stake in the project if chosen as an export route for the Shah Deniz gas.

On 3 March 2013, Nabucco International signed a memorandum of understanding with the TANAP consortium.

However, on 28 June 2013 Shah Deniz consortium announced that it had chosen the Trans Adriatic Pipeline over Nabucco for its gas exports, prompting OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss to regard the Nabucco project as "over".

Route

The original long pipeline was to run from Ahiboz in Turkey via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria.

In Ahiboz, it would be joined with two feeder lines, one connecting to Georgia in the north ( South Caucasus Pipeline), and the other connecting to Iraq (pipeline to be built) in the southeast.

It would be fed also from the Tabriz–Ankara pipeline. of the pipeline was to be laid in Turkey, in Bulgaria, in Romania, in Hungary, and in Austria.

The modified Nabucco West was to start from the Turkey–Bulgaria border and further to follow the original route. The total length of Nabucco West is , with the following distances in each of the below countries:

* Bulgaria:
* Romania:
* Hungary:
* Austria:

From Turkey, the original Nabucco pipeline was proposed to enter Bulgaria and after running in parallel to the existing gas system connect to the Bulgarian national gas network at the compressor station of village Lozenets in Yambol Province. After crossing the Balkan Range, the pipeline will head in a northwesterly direction. After reaching the national northern half-ring, it will run in parallel to the existing east–west gas line and continue to northwest before reaching the Danube at Oryahovo. In Bulgaria, Nabucco will have interconnections with the national gas network and will have two off-take systems, compressor stations and pig stations.

In Romania, the pipeline would be crossing into the country under the Danube. The route on the Romanian territory would go from south-west to north-west, its south-western starting point being located at the Danube-crossing point upstream the Port of Bechet, and the north-western end point being located north of Nădlac. The pipe would follow the south western border of Romania and will travel through the counties of Dolj, Mehedinți, Caraș-Severin, Timiș, and Arad. The pipeline would cross 11 protected sites, two national parks, three natural reserves, and 57 watercourses, namely major rivers such as: Jiu, Coșuștea, Cerna, Belareca

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases