OMV Chief Positive on Nabucco

OMV Chief Executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer remains positive about the Nabucco gas pipeline, despite delays in the project's launch.

"Timing is important but it's not the most important thing," said Ruttenstorfer.

He pointed to a dip in European gas demand due to the economic downturn as softening the impact of delays in the launch of the project.

"You have seen a dip in demand, which is coming back gradually. So a small delay is not going to be the worst thing you can imagine."

The final investment decision was recently pushed into 2011 due to prolonged gas supply talks with Azerbaijan.

"In the last weeks and months we have made really significant progress. But on the other hand, this is not an easy contract. Such contracts cannot just be done overnight. The positive thing is that these discussions are going on, they will continue to go on for a couple of months then there will be the final basis for the final investment decision." said Ruttenstorfer.

Some analysts have questioned whether the pipeline makes sense given lower outlooks for gas demand.

But Ruttenstorfer said future gas demand in Europe would be big enough for Nabucco and Gazprom's rival South Stream project as well as any smaller pipelines.

In addition to OMV, the Nabucco partnership includes Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE.

Source: Reuters