RWE to quit Nabucco project

RWE, one of the largest German energy concerns, is considering leaving Nabucco, a project to transport gas from the Caspian Region to Europe, 1news reports.

The project’s expenses increased from €8 to €15 billion and no contracts with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have been signed. RWE is studying the project.

OMV (Austria), another company involved in the project, said that the pipeline might end up a lot shorter, without reaching Austria through the Turkish-Bulgarian border. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban said earlier that Hungary’s MOL may leave the project.

Initially, gas was to be transported from the Caspian Region to Europe bypassing Russia. A pipeline is to run through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria. It will total 4,000 km. The pipeline construction is to start in 2013 to have first gas supplies in 2017. The pipeline project includes RWE, OMV, Transgaz (Romania), Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey) and MOL (Hungary).