Baku to benefit from Nabucco

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 3 (UPI) -- Azerbaijan has a major role to play in the Nabucco natural gas pipeline for Europe, consortium members said during a Baku energy conference.

Europe is looking to the Nabucco pipeline to break the Russian grip in the regional energy sector. Moscow is pushing for its South Stream project along a similar route.

Jeremy Ellis, head of business development at German energy company and Nabucco consortium member RWE, said Nabucco was not a South Stream rival.

Nabucco, he added, was shorter and less expensive than South Stream, however.

South Stream would carry Russian natural gas to Europe, while Nabucco would bring gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq.

Consortium members are anxious to convince Azerbaijan and Turkey to hammer out a gas deal that could expedite Nabucco. The proposed 2,500-mile pipeline will run from Azerbaijan to Austria via Turkey and would carry 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year to Europe.

"One benefit for Azerbaijan from Nabucco is that the project will bring the country closer to Europe," Ellis was quoted in the Azeri news agency News.Az as saying.

Energy analysts predict that Europe could face natural gas shortages as early as 2015. Nabucco is expected to start gas deliveries in 2014.