Oil and Gas Pipeline Watch

No Nabucco plans for Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has no plans to join the proposed Nabucco natural gas pipeline from Turkey to Central Europe, Russian officials said.

The European Union and the United States back the planned 2,050-mile pipeline connecting European customers to natural gas supplies in Central Asia and the Middle East. There are supply concerns plaguing the $11 billion pipeline, however.

An aide to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Turkmenistan expressed no interest in joining the Nabucco project, opting instead to supply a trans-Caspian gas pipeline proposed to run to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Itar-Tass reported.

"We have never heard the word 'Nabucco' from our Turkmen colleagues," said Medvedev aide Sergei Prikhodko.

Medvedev and his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, issued a joint statement regarding the trans-Caspian project.

"Partnership between Russian and Turkmen energy sectors is high-level. The sides are designing and building major pipelines," the statement said.

The 1,056-mile trans-Caspian pipeline has a design capacity of about 700 billion cubic feet of gas, with Turkmenistan supplying nearly half that amount.

Budapest looks to Nabucco

Budapest hopes to secure natural gas supplies from Central Asia from the planned Nabucco pipeline, the Hungarian prime minister said ahead of a visit to the region.

"The European and the Hungarian energy policy objectives are identical in this respect -- to secure supplies from diverse resources and on varied routes," Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.

Gyurcsany made his comments as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the former head of Russian energy giant Gazprom, paid a visit to potential energy suppliers Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan during the weekend.

Turkmenistan had been considered a potential partner to the Nabucco project, but pricing concerns put that relationship in doubt, The Oil & Gas Journal reported.

"After gradual transition to world prices, which are inevitable, the issue of orienting these (gas) flows to other countries will be taken off the agenda. If Turkmenistan raises the price, the profitability of gas supplies to Russia or through Russia increases," said Medvedev aide Sergei Prikhodko.

Iran pushes new Turkish gas pipeline

Tehran and Ankara are in negotiations to build a 261-mile natural gas pipeline from the Iranian South Pars field, the Iranian oil minister said.

Gholamhossein Nozari said both sides are in talks to supply Turkey with Iranian natural gas for winter consumption, the Iranian Press TV said.

"During the Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) OPEC summit, the two countries discussed terms for a joint venture to lay a natural gas pipeline extending from the South Pars gas field to the Bazargan border," Nozari said.

Bazargan is an Iranian border city in Iran's West Azarbaijan province.

Turkey and Iran have been energy partners since 2001. Iran sees itself as a viable energy supplier to European customers behind Russia.

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Seyyed Reza Kasaeizadeh said the $939 million pipeline would be available for bidding soon, adding the project was important for Iran to expand its European customer base.

"A 56-inch-diameter pipeline will be extended to Iran's border point of Bazargan to boost gas exports to Turkey and Europe," he said.

New Delhi to host TAPI conference

New Delhi will host an October conference on construction developments for the trans-Afghanistan natural gas pipeline, officials said.

During the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Spain, Indian officials announced the decision to host the meeting with participants in the pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and then onto India.

The U.S.-backed $7.6 billion project will pump natural gas from Turkmenistan some 1,044 miles to its South Asian customers.

The participants of the pipeline, coined TAPI, will discuss construction developments, the intended route and pricing mechanisms, the Kazakh news agency Kazinform said.

With India consuming more than 3.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per day, the project is of strategic importance for New Delhi to overcome its rising energy demands.

Afghanistan will receive about 177 million cubic feet of the 3 trillion cubic feet of gas slated for the project, with India and Pakistan splitting the remainder.

Kazakhstan cautious about Odessa-Brody

Delivering oil through the Odessa-Brody pipeline in Eastern Europe is preconditioned on several factors, the Kazakh ambassador to Azerbaijan said.

Serik Primbetov said several factors would affect the decision to transport oil through the 419-mile pipeline from the Black Sea to the Ukrainian-Polish border, the Trend Capital News Agency reported.

"Transportation of Kazakhstan's oil via Odessa-Brody will also depend on the results of pumping of Azerbaijan's process oil via the pipe," he said.

He also noted transportation and pricing factored into any final decision.

"Kazakhstan may transport its oil via the Odessa-Brody pipe, but that will be contingent on stability of transportation via the route and on tariffs," he said.

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