Buyers line up to buy Azerbaijani gas from Nabucco West

Nabucco West has received strong interest from a variety of shippers following launch of the open season registration phase, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH reported on Thursday."A week after the launch of the registration phase of the Open Season, shipper interest in registration and capacity booking in the Nabucco West pipeline has already exceeded expectations," Trend quotes the report.According to the report, Nabucco has received interest from a variety of shippers, including potential shippers that are not part of Nabucco, the consortium of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field development or its buyers.According to the CEO of NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International GmbH, Reinhard Mitschek, the high levels of interest clearly show the demand for the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor connecting European markets to Caspian gas, and "also for Nabucco, as the flagship project of the Southern Gas Corridor," Trend reports.In early May Nabucco Gas Pipeline International announced the launch of an open season process for capacity booking in the gas pipeline.Nabucco spokesperson Christian Dolezal told New Europe that the pre-registration phase for interested shippers giving a clear indication of the capacity utilisation will be concluded before the end of June. According to him, capacity booking and the conclusion of the contracts with shippers will naturally take place after the final route decision by the Shah Deniz consortium.