Today's Zaman: Farewell to ‘greater’ Nabucco as TANAP emerges to replace it

Everything began with much enthusiasm when Nabucco –- a natural gas transfer project designed to carry Caspian gas to European markets, bypassing the Russian route –- was introduced in 2002. But the curtain is now likely to fall over the big dreams as the past 10 years have wiped out much of Nabucco's vigor.

Initially hailed as a “pan-European” project that could reduce European consumers' dependency on Russian natural gas, Nabucco now seems unlikely to be realized as it was originally introduced given the recent emergence of much stronger rivals. The Nabucco Consortium or the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria and Germany) on Wednesday announced that they have applied to Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II gas producers' consortium to receive gas from them for the project's now shortened version “Nabucco-West.” Observers argue this marks the end of “greater” Nabucco. The Shah Deniz gas producers' consortium had earlier set a May 16 deadline for Nabucco to submit their proposals for a possible gas purchase. Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek in a written statement on Thursday characterized their proposal to Shah Deniz II as a “chance for a win-win deal.”  MORE