RWE, OMV discuss Nabucco shares

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VIENNA, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Austrian energy company OMV said it remained committed to the planned Nabucco pipeline though shareholder RWE is leaving the group.

Both sides confirmed they were discussing the 17 percent stake that RWE has in the Nabucco consortium. OMV Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying it was largely an investment decision.

"It is not an issue of control, it's an issue of investment," he said. "The shareholders of Nabucco at the end will be the ones who have the gas."

A spokeswoman for RWE told Bloomberg the company was discussing transferring its shares with its Austrian counterparts.

The original Nabucco pipeline was reconfigured as Nabucco West, a 48-inch, 807-mile pipeline through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. It has an 813 billion cubic feet design capacity.

That project is up against the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline to secure natural gas from Azerbaijan. A BP-led consortium operating there is expected to make a decision on its pipeline options soon.