Nabucco Fading into the Twilight?
The prospects for the realization of the Nabucco pipeline appear to be significantly impacted this week after comments by a consortium partner and by a key political supporter.
Speaking a conference on Ukrainian energy affairs, the US State Department Special Envoy on Eurasian Energy, Ambassador Richard Morningstar, said that the full implementation of the Nabucco gas pipeline becomes less probable every year,
"It became clear that it is more difficult to implement the project from the financial and temporal points of view," Morningstar commented, also citing the continued delays in the pipeline's timetable, coupled with the lack of firm and significant supply agreements.
Earlier this week, comments from Nabucco consortium partner RWE AG, indicated that it was considering dropping its participation from Nabucco.
Under financial stress, Germany’s second-largest utility is seeking to cut costs and to reduce debt via divestures after being sideswiped by Germany's shift in nuclear energy policy and the impact of expensive long-term gas contracts.
RWE said while its “fundamental approach” to the Nabucco pipeline project remains unchanged, its priority is to source gas with as little investment as possible.
The utility also commented agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan on the development of Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) creates a “new situation.”
Political and industry momentum for the development of the Southern Gas Corridor appears to be shifting away from its open support for Nabucco, towards a more generic southern gas corridor solution.
Focus will likely increasing towards the smaller volumed proposed Southern Corridor pipelines Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) and recent entrants South East European Pipeline (SEEP) and TANAP. Industry observers point to a possible merger amongst players.
"The Commission is neutral where the gas ends up in Europe and supports all pipelines in the EU, not only Nabucco but also ITGI and TAP,"commented Marlene Holzner, spokesperson for EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.