Nabucco Pipeline To Ensure 15% Of Romania's Natural Gas Consumption

Romania will benefit each year from 2.58 billion of cubic meters of the total quantity of natural gas transported through the Nabucco pipeline, accounting for 15% of the current national gas consumption, state-owned gas pipeline operator Transgaz (TGN.RO) stated Tuesday.

"The intergovernmental agreement on the Nabucco project, sealed in Ankara, is supplemented with a technical accord stipulating that Romania will benefit from 2.58 billion of cubic meters of natural gas per year, quantity that it will be able to sell in the case of not using it in total," Transgaz said.
 
Nabucco will be 3,300 kilometers long, out of which 457 kilometers will be built on Romania's territory. The gas pipeline will transit Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
 
The project is developed by Nabucco Gas Pipeline International, formed by Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz (TGN.RO), Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE.
 
According to the latest data, Nabucco will require total investments worth EUR8 billion, out of which Romania will have to contribute with EUR1.4 billion. Transgaz will ensure 30% of the sum out of its own resources, while the difference will be covered from bank loans taken by the consortium, but guaranteed by Transgaz.
 
On Monday, Romania's Prime Minister Emil Boc said the construction of Nabucco gas pipeline will be 70% financed by loans contracted from EIB and EBRD, and the rest of the funds will come from the participating companies, out of which EUR417 million from Transgaz.
 
The gas pipeline construction will start in 2011 and is scheduled to be completed in 2014.
 
Nabucco will supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe via Turkey and Romania, bypassing Russia. The project is endorsed by the European Union and the USA.
 
The Prime Ministers of Romania, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey signed Monday in Ankara the intergovernmental accord for the Nabucco project.

Mediafax