OMV – Nabucco Decision Could Be Postponed To 2011

The final investment decision for the planned Nabucco gas pipeline will be made in the first quarter of next year at the latest, an executive with Nabucco shareholder OMV said today.

The decision will be made after Nabucco's owners have determined demand for the pipeline following an open season process, probably in the fourth quarter of this year, OMV's gas chief Werner Auli told a news conference after the Austrian player unveiled its results.

The Vienna-based Nabucco consortium has said it plans a final investment decision by the end of this year but the overall project has already been subject to several delays.

The decision is one of the main steps towards realising the European Union-backed pipeline, which aims to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

"The open season process should happen in the fourth quarter," Reuters quoted Auli saying.

"The final investment decision could happen this year or ... in the first quarter of 2011 at the latest," he said.

Auli said it was still possible complete the process this year because the open season process should take around three months.

Nabucco is a proposed 3,300 kilometres (2,050 mi) long pipeline designed to carry Caspian and Central Asian natural gas  from Erzurum in Turkey via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to  a major natural gas hub in Austria.  In addition to OMV, Nabucco's other shareholders include Hungary's MOL , Romania's Transgaz, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE

Source: Reuters and NGFE archives