Romania, Turkmenistan explore Nabucco

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, July 23 (UPI) -- Romania welcomes statements from Turkmenistan on the need to push for European energy security as support for the Nabucco pipeline gains ground, officials say.

Romanian President Traian Basescu paid a working visit to Ashgabat, expressing his appreciation for the Turkmen policy of energy security and its possible participation in the Nabucco pipeline for Europe, the Romanian daily The National Courier reports.

"As regards the energy security, the two countries will cooperate very well," the president said. "This approach makes us optimistic about the eventual participation of Turkmenistan in supplying to Nabucco."

Turkmenistan sits on some of largest energy reserves in the world. It had a longstanding relationship with Russian energy giant Gazprom but turned its back on Moscow following a pipeline explosion in April, which Ashgabat blamed on the Russian energy giant.

Ashgabat, for its part, signed agreements for development and exploration of Caspian gas reserves with German energy giant RWE, a member of the Nabucco consortium.

Europe hopes to secure gas reserves from Caspian suppliers for its Nabucco pipeline, which is intended to break the Russian hold in the regional energy market.

The governments of Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria signed a milestone agreement on Nabucco on July 13 in Ankara.