October 12, 2008

Nabucco pipeline project impossible without Iran – Mr Nozari

Mr Gholamhossein Nozari oil minister of Iran has assured that it would not be possible to put Turkey’s Nabucco gas pipeline into operation without Iran. He added that “If Nabucco pipeline comes on stream, Iran will be the sole option for supplying its gas as it is the world’s 2nd largest holder of natural gas.”

Mr Mohammadreza Ne’matzadeh MD of National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company had already announced that Europe had no way out but to satisfy its energy needs by transferring Iran’s gas via Turkey’s Nabucco pipeline.

Mr Ne’matzadeh said that “Europe’s need in Iran’s gas supplies through Nabucco pipeline which passes through Turkey is inevitable. European countries needed Iran’s gas while Iran was in need of the EU market. That’s why the new Nabucco pipeline which was proposed by Turkey for transferring gas supplies of Central Asia and Iran to Europe was welcomed by the energy ministers of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey itself. Energy ministers in a recent meeting have each taken up a 20% share for the establishment of the pipeline.”

Turkey and Iran are expected soon to complete the agreement to build some 3,500 kilometers of gas pipelines to transport up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Europe through Turkey.

Nabucco pipeline aims to reduce Europe’s dependency on gas from Russia, which has proved to be an unreliable energy supplier in recent years. European Union is lagging behind in implementing the project and has not made headway yet. A reason is that Europe has not found a proper alternative for Russian gas. It seems Nabucco project cannot be economically viable unless it transfers Iran’s gas to energy hungry European countries via Turkey’s gas could be transferred via the pipeline by 2017.