Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari has urged the Austrian energy giant OMV to finalize a deal on the Nabucco gas pipeline.
"The Austrians must hurry up and turn the preliminary contracts into actual contracts, because time is running out and we won't wait forever," Nozari told the Austrian daily Wiener Zeitung in an interview published Friday.
The Iranian oil minister noted that Iran has many other options and noted that the country has signed deals with countries such as India, Pakistan, Switzerland and Venezuela.
"The Islamic Republic has never signed as many new contracts as this year," Nozari said.
OMV is one of six shareholders in the Nabucco gas pipeline that will bring Central Asian gas to Europe without going through Russia.
"Everybody has recognized that the Nabucco project cannot work without Iran: a country with 16 percent of the world's gas reserves cannot be ignored," the minister said.
"I see that the Austrians are very interested in bringing the project to a positive conclusion. Europe needs Iran and Austria, which has excellent relations with us, should set an example," he concluded.
The 3,300-km pipeline, which is expected to be completed in 2013 will run from the Caspian Sea--in the north of Iran--via Turkey and the Balkan states to Austria.
MGHHAR - PRESSTV