EU energy chief in Turkey for Nabucco pipeline talks
Posted by meb at November 4th, 2008
The EU’s top energy official will travel to Turkey on Wednesday to press Ankara to quickly complete talks about transporting natural gas from the Caucasus to Western Europe via Turkey.
The visit of EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalg will show the EU remains committed to the Nabucco pipeline project that faces stiff competition from Russia, diplomats say.
The EU wants to ease its dependence on Russia for energy. Moscow’s negotiations with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to direct their Caspian Sea gas supplies westward through Russia, has worried the European Union. Piebalg is confident the EU and Turkey can close a Nabucco transmission deal by years end.
The Nabucco project plans to transport Caspian and Middle Eastern gas via Turkey to an Austrian gas hub passing through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
Officials said Tuesday that would be a boost for a project has been delayed by high costs and uncertainty over whether it can secure enough supplies from nations once part of the Soviet Union, which are subject to intense lobbying by Russia’s Gazprom.
source: Hurriyet daily
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