German utility RWE is reportedly leaving the Nabucco gas pipeline project.

Reminding about RWE's plans to leave the Nabucco project voiced in spring, Austrian news agency FriedlNеws notes that the energy company now "makes its announcement come true."

According to the FriedlNеws, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), RWE?s interest in Nabucco will be transferred to OMV, thereby making the Austrian oil and gas company the largest shareholder in Nabucco with a stake of 33.3%.

The Austrian news agency defines RWE?s exit as another serious setback for the gas pipeline project, adding that the start of the construction works may be postponed after 2017.

The project's current shareholders include the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE, and Hungary's MOL, each of them controlling a 16.67 % stake.

The EU-backed Nabucco project is to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe by circumventing Russia.

In May 2012, the Nabucco Consortium presented the revised, smaller version of the gas pipeline project called Nabucco West.

The 1300-km pipeline Nabucco West is to carry Caspian gas from the Bulgarian-Turkish border to the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) in Baumgarten and beyond.

The original pipeline was 3,900 kilometers long and ran from the Eastern border of Turkey to Baumgarten in Austria.

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