Bulgaria Says Nabucco Still Most Viable Project in Pipeline Race

Nabucco's representative for Bulgaria Dimitar Abadzhiev has said that the pipeline still remains the most viable project in the Shah Deniz pipeline race, despite recent setbacks to the project.

Speaking on Bulgarian radio, Mr. Abadzhiev said he believed the pipeline was still the most suitable project for the gas.

"We still consider this as the most viable project aimed at connecting the Turkish gas market to Europe," he said.

The weekend also saw the US once more voicing its support to the Nabucco project, with US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland telling reporters on Saturday that the country still saw Nabucco as an essential element of European supply diversification.

"We strongly support Nabucco," she said. "We think it’s a very important project. It’s going to bring energy diversification on both sides and market diversification."

The representatives were both responding to questioning about a speech from BP refining and marketing chief executive Iain Conn. Mr Conn last week said that the Nabucco West project--rather than the original Nabucco pipeline project--was one of two contenders for the central European delivery of gas from the Shah Deniz project.

The Nabucco consortium last week submitted its revised plans for the Nabucco West pipeline, a much shorter route than originally planned.

The other pipeline in consideration is the South East Europe Pipeline (SEEP).