If NGPI elects to carry through with the investment, the company would hold an auction for capacity in the pipeline (open-season) in coordination with the European Commission and energy authorities in the countries involved in the project following the conclusion of the first delivery contracts, also before the end of the year, Mitschek said.
The NGPI CEO told the newspaper that Azerbaijan and Iraq, then Turkmenistan, would supply gas to the pipeline during the first phase of operation, while Russia could supply gas to the pipeline via Turkmenistan during the second phase. Mitschek said that the project company has not held direct talks with Russian suppliers regarding supplying gas to the Nabucco pipeline.
Mitschek said that Iran is not currently being considered as a supplier for the proposed pipeline due to political instability in that country and the fact that Iran remains a net importer of gas.
The NGPI CEO said the company is currently conducting an analysis of factors that could influence the cost of the building the pipeline, noting that the estimated final cost of the project would likely be moderately higher than the previously projected €7.9 billion.
Mitschek said that NGPI is examining which, if any, of the three private companies in the consortium – Hungary’s MOL, Austria’s OMV, and Germany’s RWE – would be required to provide a state guarantee of €1.7 billion, noting that the three state-owned companies in the project company – Turkey’s Botas, Romania’s Transgas and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz – would obviously furnish such state guarantees.
The Nabucco pipeline would operate on the one-window system in which NGPI would negotiate gas contracts with suppliers for the entire length of the pipeline, thus making transit agreements with each individual country along the pipeline unnecessary, the NGPI CEO told the newspaper.
Mitschek said that he is not concerned that the planned Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romanian Interconnector (AGRI) transporting liquefied natural-gas from Azerbaijan to central Europe via the Black Sea and Romania would draw investment away from the Nabucco project, adding that Europe needs gas from all possible sources.
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