Nabucco anticipates Iraqi gas

VIENNA, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Representatives from the Vienna-based consortium for the Nabucco gas pipeline expressed confidence Iraqi gas could be contracted for the project.

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told European lawmakers earlier this week that designating Iraqi gas for the Nabucco project would be beneficial.

"Linking the Iraqi pipeline to the Nabucco would enable Kurdistan to play a major role in the region," he said.

Nabucco is designed to have the capacity to move 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas each year to European customers from Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers. The pipeline would run from the Caspian region through Turkey to Austria along a route through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

Europe aims to diversify an energy sector dependent on Russia through the Nabucco pipeline. The prime ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey signed a milestone intergovernmental agreement on Nabucco during a July summit in Ankara.

Despite political support for the project, Nabucco lacks firm commitments from potential gas suppliers.

Christian Dolezal, the spokesman for Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, told United Press International in response to e-mail questions that he was confident Iraqi gas would be contracted for the project.

"It is understandable that every country needs to satisfy their domestic needs first. But we are confident that Nabucco is an attractive and stable business model for supply countries to export gas to the markets in Turkey and Europe," he said. "Therefore we are confident that gas traders will be able to contract Iraqi gas for Nabucco."

Nabucco is scheduled to deliver gas to European customers by 2014.