After RWE drops out, Nabucco consortium to be formed anew

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC) hopes to form a final consortium of 9-10 shareholders, said NIC Executive Director Reinhardt Mitcek.

"During the first semi-annual period in 2013 NIC will revise the structure of the shareholders and it will be further revised after making a final decision on the Nabucco pipeline route," Mitcek.

Mitcek also said that German RWE company has decided to drop out of the project. For this reason the Nabucco West shareholders would like the shareholders of the Shah-Deniz gas condensate field development project to join their project.

On January 18, 2013 in Vienna the Nabucco project consortium and the partners of the Shah-Deniz gas field development project signed the cooperation agreement and the agreement on joint funding and ownership. The agreement on joint funding and ownership envisages joint coverage of costs related to implementation of the Nabucco-West project till the final route of gas transportation from the Shah-Deniz to Europe is selected. If the Nabucco-West is selected as the final route, the agreement will allow the Shah-Deniz partners, including BP, SOCAR, Statoil and Total, to own 50% share in the project.

* The Nabucco-West envisages laying of the pipeline from the Turkish-Bulgarian border up to the Central European gas distributor in the Baumgarten city, Austria. The length of the Nabucco West from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to the Austrian Baumgarten is 1,300 km.

** After RWE dropped out of the Nabucco West project the Nabucco shareholders are Austrian OMV, Hungarian FGSZ, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz and Turkish Botas.