VIENNA, March 5 (UPI) -- The ratification of the Nabucco gas pipeline by Ankara is a significant milestone for the development of the project, officials said Friday in Vienna.
The Turkish Parliament late Thursday ratified a deal signed last year by Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey for the Nabucco pipeline. The gas pipeline is meant to diversify the regional energy sector by bringing non-Russian natural gas to European customers.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said in statements published by the state news agency Anadolu that energy diplomacy was like a game of chess.
"When you see a move, you have to make a move, too," he said.
Members of the Nabucco consortium overseeing the project heaped praise on the passage. Reinhard Mitschek, the managing director of the consortium, heralded the Ankara measure as a breakthrough.
"No other project of Nabucco dimensions has a treaty in place that guarantees gas transit under equal and transparent conditions for all customers," he said. "The ratification in all parliaments is now an important further milestone."
Nabucco will run more than 2,000 miles from Turkey through southern Europe. Final capacity is 1.1 trillion cubic feet per year with first gas deliveries expected by 2014.
Despite political backing for the project, supplier nations are slow to make formal commitments to Nabucco. Egypt, Iraq and Azerbaijan have emerged as likely suppliers.
