ANKARA - Turkish Energy & Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler pledged on Tuesday to realize the Nabucco project after his meeting with Austrian Economic Affairs & Labor Minister Martin Bartenstein.
Guler told reporters after the meeting that Turkey was determined to realize the project and said efforts for Nabucco project should be stepped up.
The Nabucco project is a planned 3,300 kilometres natural gas pipeline that will carry gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.
Guler said he discussed with the Austrian minister several issues, including Turkey's natural gas supply security, the shape of the project, amounts and the timetable of the project.
"We will speed up our efforts and realize this project just as we did the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and the Shah Sea project. So, both Turkey and the European Union would have a good alternative for natural gas supply security," he said.
Asked if he had concerns over the natural gas deal between Greece and Russia, Guler said he did not have any concerns.
Separately, Austrian minister said his country attached great importance to the Nabucco project. Bartenstein said they were working hard to pump the first gas in 2012 or 2013.
"It is time to finish the project," he said.
The Nabucco pipeline will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. This pipeline is an alternative to the current projects developed to import natural gas from Russia. It will be connected with the Tabriz-Erzurum pipeline, and with the South Caucasus Pipeline, linking Nabucco Pipeline with the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.
The project is developed by the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, established in 2004 in Vienna. The shareholders of the company are OMV (Austria), MOL (Hungary), Transgaz (Romania), Bulgargaz (Bulgaria), BOTAS (Turkey) and RWE (Germany).
(TÇ-GC)