S. Ossetia conflict boosts Nabucco

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BUCHAREST, Romania, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- The Romanian president said Friday the Nabucco gas pipeline planned for European energy supplies by 2010 is more attractive because of regional concerns.

Romanian President Traian Basescu said rising European energy demands necessitate a diversified supply of natural resources, Trend Capital News reported.

"The situation in Georgia showed that there is a need to pursue a policy which will enable the region to become an alternative energy source for the European Union," he said.

A fire on the eastern Turkey section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and a military conflict between Russia and Georgia provoked a nervous reaction among energy consumers in the region.

"Given the position of states in the region and EU, all energy projects must be further realized," Basescu said.

Reinhardt Mitschek, managing director of the Nabucco pipeline consortium, said this week the number of potential suppliers for the pipeline, expected to launch in 2010, put the capacity at more than 100 percent, signaling a need for an energy route independent of Russia.