Azerbaijan to Make Final Decision on Nabucco by October

Azerbaijan will make a final decision on an export route to Europe by October 1st.

Rovnag Abdullayev, head of state oil company SOCAR, said that it was in talks to deliver natural gas to the Nabucco pipeline consortium from the Shah Deniz-2 field

The European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline project competes with other pipeline projects such as Gazprom backed South Stream to deliver gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, but the choice of route will depend on proposed transportation tariffs, Abdullayev said.

"Only after the decision on transportation tariffs, we can keep the specific work with buyers," he said.

In comments earlier this week indicative of the intense negotiation between the parties, Abdullayev commented that Azeri gas will flow to whomever offered the best deal.

“Everything is possible. There are many projects and we are considering all of them,” the SOCAR head said.

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz earlier this week that the Nabucco project has alternatives should discussions with Azerbaijan go awry.

"If Azerbaijan's response will be negative, we'll contact with Turkmenistan, Iraq and Iran. This project has a great importance for both of us and Europe. That's why we can not lose time and we'll use all of the options," Minister Yildiz commented.

European  Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger will be visiting Baku on June 6th in hopes of moving Nabucco's position forwards.

Source: Wall Street Journal, NGFE Archives