Berdimuhamedov talks Nabucco

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- An official visit to Bulgaria and Turkey this week by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will focus on the planned Nabucco gas pipeline for Europe.

Berdimuhamedov leaves for a European tour this week that includes visits with Turkish and Bulgarian officials to discuss the opportunity to explore tapping the vast resource fields in the Caspian Sea.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov in December said he had assurances from Ashgabat for the supply of 70 billion cubic feet of gas per year through existing energy networks. Turkmenistan, meanwhile, supplies the bulk of the electric power for Turkey.

With those arrangements in mind, and with the Caspian region emerging as a vital source of oil and gas, observers expect Berdimuhamedov to discuss the $10.3 billion Nabucco gas pipeline for Europe, the Trend news agency reports.

Europe aims to diversify an energy sector dependent on Russian gas with its Nabucco project from the Caspian region. Ankara hosted the signing of a multilateral agreement on the project in July, though gas commitments and financial obstacles still plague development.

Turkmenistan had emerged as a possible supplier of Nabucco gas. Ashgabat had sold most of its gas to Russian energy monopoly Gazprom, but April disruptions at a vital pipeline changed the nature of that relationship.