Oil and Gas Pipeline Watch

Turkey sees June sign-off on Nabucco

Ankara expects to sign off on plans for the Nabucco gas pipeline to Europe with its partners in the European Union by June, the energy minister said.

Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said his country coordinated recently with European officials on the gas pipeline and hoped for a swift response.

"If they sent the answers by the end of April, we will sign deals by June," Guler said.

He said the content of the letter was intended to avoid repeating some of the terms already agreed upon by Turkey and its European partners, Turkey's Hurriyet reports.

Nabucco would bring natural gas from Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers to Europe from Turkey. The $10.7 billion project has an estimated 2011 launch date but faces financial and supply obstacles, as there are several other rival projects in the works for the region.

Ankara has stated it would seek 15 percent of the natural gas from the pipeline for domestic use.

Plans moving on Persian Pipeline

Studies for the construction of the Persian Pipeline from Iranian gas fields to Europe via the Middle East have begun, the Iranian oil minister said.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari announced studies were under way on the 2,100-mile Persian Pipeline to bring roughly 1.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to European markets, the Iranian Students News Agency reports.

In early April, Tehran and Damascus signed a memorandum of understanding on the deal, which includes plans to develop oil refineries in Syria. Nozari said feasibility studies on the gas pipeline began in late 2008.

Diversifying European energy corridors around politically sensitive territory, notably Ukraine and Russia, is a top priority for the region. Nozari added that his country was also in talks with European officials to include Iran on the heralded Nabucco route, ISNA reported.

Europe sees Nabucco as a viable option to meet its diversification plans, though the project is hampered by supply concerns.

Gaz de France eyes Nord Stream

Members of the Nord Stream gas pipeline consortium held talks to consider extending an invitation to Gaz de France to join the project, Gazprom said.

Russian gas giant Gazprom holds the controlling share in the Nord Stream project to bring gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea. Gazprom officials had said Gaz de France was interested in joining as a minority partner, but the matter needed board approval.

Gazprom's foreign economic officer, Stanislav Tsygankov, said the negotiations with Gaz de France have moved to more serious considerations, RIA Novosti reports.

"On the whole, I think we have moved from verbal interest to the phase of wide-ranging talks with our partners," he said.

The 758-mile Nord Stream dual pipeline would bring close to 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to European customers each year once both lines commence operations by 2012.

Pipeline construction faces obstacles from World War II munitions strewn along the Baltic Sea floor, while several littoral states have raised concerns over the environmental impact of the project.

Shale no rival to Alaska natural gas

Shale gas from the lower 48 U.S. states may divert attention away from Alaskan plans for a natural gas pipeline, but only in the very short term, lawmakers said.

State Sens. Fred Dyson and Tom Wagoner, both Republicans, write in the Anchorage Daily News that shale gas makes developing natural gas pipelines in Alaska's North Slope unattractive, but only during the immediate time horizon.

"Shale gas, in essence, fills the market need while the Alaska gas pipeline is being permitted and built," they wrote. "It is our hope that shale gas will fill that temporary market void, rather than liquefied natural gas from foreign sources."

The lawmakers pointed to concerns over the mounting expense for the Alaska pipeline, saying the growing sentiment that the economy will recover in the coming months erases any worries over cost.

"The major North Slope producers share this perspective," they added.

Meanwhile, with legislation calling for so-called greener fuels, the energy sector will become more and more dependent on cleaner natural gas.

"It is clear to us that market demand for more natural gas -- Alaska's gas from the North Slope -- will be high and sustained over the coming decades," they concluded.

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(dgraeber@upi.com)