MOL Rumoured to Be Considering Joining SEEP

MOL is said to be considering joining the South East Europe Pipeline (SEEP), following the company's previous announcement that it may exit the Nabucco pipeline project.

Reported by Hungarian newspaper Nepszabadsag today, Toby Odone, spokesman for BP said that the company, in conjunction with its gas pipeline operating arm FGSZ, is weighing up options for entering the SEEP project.

The South East Europe Pipeline, backed and led by BP, the company leading the Shah Deniz consortium, is an alternative to the Nabucco pipeline, a project which has recently fallen out out of favour with MOL.

Last month, MOL announced that it was not willing to finance the Nabucco pipeline any further, given serious concerns over the viability of the project.

"We have signalled that we are ready to sell our shares if necessary...,"commented MOL chairman and chief executive Zsolt Hernadi to shareholders in April. "We merely had to send a very very strong signal now that we are not willing to finance this any longer."

Growing costs and uncertain financing requirements have added to the frustrations of MOL, with the estimated price tag for the Nabucco pipeline having mushroomed from €7.9 billion to €15 billion.