Turkey to Sign Detailed Agreement with Contractor of Nabucco Project

Turkey's energy minister said another agreement, which could be seen as a detailed deal to support Nabucco project, would be signed in the next six months. "This agreement will be signed between Turkey and the contractor firm of the project," Taner Yildiz said.

The Nabucco is a planned gas pipeline project to carry Caspian, Middle East and Egypt gas to Europe via Turkey.

On Monday, an agreement will be signed by five members of the six-country Nabucco consortium through which the pipeline is planned to run. The countries are: Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. The sixth country, Germany, does not have a transit role. Iran will also be a gas supplier to the project which is expected to reduce EU's natural gas dependence on Russia.

At a meeting with Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR's chairman Rovnag Abdullayev, Taner Yildiz said Turkey will fulfil its obligations against the EU after Monday's meeting.

"From now on, EU will place cooperation and solidarity with Turkey to the forefront regarding energy," Yildiz said.

The pipeline's length is approximately 3,300 kilometers. Around 2,000 kilometers of the pipeline will be laid in Turkish territory.
Yildiz said Turkey would play its part as a prime partner in the project adding that Turkey would also be the country in which most of the investment would be made.

According to market studies, the pipeline has been designed to transport a maximum amount of 31 billion cubic meters per year. Estimated investment costs, including financing costs for a complete new pipeline system, amount to approximately 7.9 billion Euro.

BBC Monitoring. Copyright BBC.


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