Nabucco Agreement Signed | July 13th, 2009 - Ankara

The officials and ministers from participating nations pose for a picture after the signing of the Nabucco Agreement.

Mavi Boncuk |

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.

Environmental group Greenpeace blasted the signing in Ankara Monday of a deal on the Nabucco gas pipeline, urging countries instead to invest in cheaper and cleaner energy. With Nabucco's estimated cost of 7.9 billion euros (10.9 billion dollars), one could install 4,000 wind turbines and produce 8,000 megawatts of wind power -- more than the total amount needed by Austrian households

The 3,300 kilometres (2,050 mi) long pipeline will run from Erzurum in Turkey via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to Baumgarten an der March in Austria.[21] Near Erzurum, it will be connected with the Tabriz–Erzurum pipeline and with the South Caucasus Pipeline, connecting Nabucco Pipeline with the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline. About 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi) of the pipeline will be laid in Turkey, 400 kilometres (250 mi) in Bulgaria, 460 kilometres (290 mi) in Romania, 390 kilometres (240 mi) in Hungary, and 46 kilometres (29 mi) in Austria.

Notes

The project is developed by the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. The managing director of the company is Reinhardt Mitschek.[28] The shareholders of the company are:OMV (Austria) | MOL (Hungary) | Transgaz (Romania) | Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) | BOTAŞ (Turkey) | RWE (Germany)

All shareholders have 16.67% of the shares. French company Gaz de France was also interested to get a stake in the pipeline, but was rejected by Turkey. The Polish gas company PGNiG plans to join the project.[40] In the future, the consortium intends to also include the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR); however, SOCAR has identified a number of problems with its participation.[] Kazakhstan has also indicated its readiness to join the project.

Alternative projects

In 2006, Gazprom proposed an alternative project, in competition with the Nabucco Pipeline, that would involve constructing a second section of the Blue Stream pipeline beneath the Black Sea to Turkey, and extending this up through Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia to western Hungary. In 2007, the South Stream project through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary to Austria, or alternatively through Slovenia to Italy, was proposed. It is seen as a rival to the Nabucco pipeline. Ukraine has proposed the White Stream pipeline, connecting Georgia to the Ukrainian gas transport network.