ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will lobby for a role in the Nabucco pipeline for Europe during his official visits to Sofia and Ankara.
Turkmenistan sits on some of the largest natural gas deposits in the world. Berdimuhamedov is expected to search for ways for his country to join Nabucco during his regional tour, the Trend news agency reports.
Nabucco would run from the Caspian region through Turkey to Austria along a route through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Regional hosts and interested parties expressed their support for Nabucco during a summit in Ankara in July.
Financial obstacles and a lack of firm supply commitments, however, drag on the development of the $10.3 billion project.
Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are at odds over the territorial boundaries of the Caspian Sea, with concerns raised over operations in disputed resource fields. Observers say political will for Nabucco trumps regional concerns over lingering rows regarding Caspian boundaries.
Turkmenistan had a longstanding gas relationship with Russia. Ashgabat backed away from that relationship following an April disruption at a regional pipeline that was blamed on Russian gas giant Gazprom.
Europe hopes to diversify an energy sector dependent on Russian gas. More than 80 percent of all Russian gas bound for European customers travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.
