Negotiations on cooperation between Nabucco West and the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) will start this summer, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek said during a conference call on Friday, Trend reports.
"In this summer period, we will start talks with TANAP on all technical aspects of cooperation," Mitschek said, adding that he does not exclude that the negotiations will start even this month.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of the Nabucco project, which envisages construction of the pipeline from Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. The Nabucco West Proposal was submitted by Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH on 16 May, 2012.
This week, the consortium of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development selected Nabucco West as the single pipeline option for the potential export of Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas to Central Europe. The decision was made on the basis of the publicly-communicated selection criteria announced in 2011.
Mitschek said that Nabucco West will now start deeper detailed negotiations with the Shah Deniz consortium on various aspects of the project.
"We will align our project schedule with the schedule of the Trans Anatolian Pipeline and of the Shah Deniz exploration and production project," Mitschek said.
He also added that all Nabucco shareholders, including Turkey's BOTAS and Germany's RWE, are very committed to the project, and having a stable shareholder group is a big advantage.
