ESSEN, Germany, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- There may be no capacity left for gas from Turkmenistan in the Nabucco pipeline if Iraqi and Azeri supplies enter the picture, German energy company RWE said.
Europe is backing the $11 billion Nabucco pipeline to move non-Russian natural gas to the eurozone. Stefan Judisch, a supply manager at Nabucco consortium member RWE, told Bloomberg News that supplies for the pipeline could be sufficient if Iraq and Azerbaijan commit to the project.
"If those materialize there will be no room for Turkmen gas anymore in Nabucco," he said.
The Nabucco consortium in Austria said it confirmed and ordered engineering work for feeder lines from Georgia and Iraq to connect to the main artery in Turkey.
Dimitar Abadjiev, a corporate affairs officer at the Nabucco consortium, said Iraq is the "most real" supplier for the pipeline, Bloomberg adds.
Christian Dolezal, a spokesman for the Nabucco pipeline consortium, in early September said there was enough natural gas in Iraq and Azerbaijan to have the project on stream by 2015.
The Nabucco consortium announced in September that the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank signed a mandate letter to back the project.
Despite political backing for the project, however, potential suppliers are slow to commit.
