The Nabucco pipeline project got a boost from Turkmenistan after it won support from its Caspian neighbours to lay an undersea pipeline to supply gas to the project according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister late last week.
Speaking at an energy conference, Baymyrad Hojamuhamedov said that his country will have upto 40 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas spare annually and said that “European countries need not worry”.
“Taking into account domestic demand in the west of the country and supplies from there to Iran, we will have 40 bcm of gas free every year, so European countries need not worry,” he said.
Speaking about the agreement reached amongst the Caspian countries on the proposed undersea pipeline, Hojamuhamedov said: “It’s very good news for us that others supported this initiative, it supports our president’s policy of diversifying export markets for Turkmen natural gas and we are bringing these plans to life.”
Europe is trying to diversify its gas supply away from Russia which is a major supplier, conversely Turkmenistan, the largest natural gas producer in Central Asia is seeking to diversify its traditional export market of Russia, it has also boosted supplies to China and Iran.
The Nabucco pipeline, which is expected to cost US$11.04 billion in total, will connect the oil rich Caspian and Middle East region to European consumer markets along a 3,300 Kilometre corridor and will have an annual capacity of 31 bcm of gas once completed.
Russia’s rival gas pipeline project to Europe through the Black Sea called South Stream run by state-run Gazprom, will have an annual capacity of 63 bcm and is expected to come online in 2014.
