Nabucco, TANAP Sign Memorandum of Understanding

The Nabucco Gas Pipeline International consortium announced Monday that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Co-operation (MoU) with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).

Through the MoU the the two parties formally agree to co-operate on the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, according to a media statement of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC).

The MoU states that Nabucco and TANAP will exchange technical and other strategic information and "cooperate in a manner that will support the development of their respective projects."

According to the media statement of the NIC, the MoU also highlights the need for further diversification of natural gas transportation routes to improve reliability and diversification of gas supplies to the EU and the South Eastern Europe regions.

According to Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, the MoU cements the relationship between two integral parts of the Southern Gas Corridor.

In Mitschek's words, the MoU creates a mutual framework for the sharing of information and activities vital to the success of both projects.

According to Nabucco Chief Financial Officer Frank Siebert, "in the coming months, all parts of the value chain connecting  Shah Deniz gas to European consumers will work together to align project schedules in order to achieve the maximum commercial benefits for all stakeholders. This Memorandum of Understanding is an important step in this process,"

The Nabucco pipeline is planned to take Caspian Region gas from the Turkish-Bulgarian border via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to the Central European Gas Hub at Baumgarten.

As a central component of the Southern Gas Corridor, Nabucco is ideally placed to diversify gas supply to over 500 million potential customers in the growing economies of South Eastern Europe as well as onward into Western Europe.

The current shareholders of the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International project company are the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE, and Hungary's FGSZ.