Pipeliners

April 10, 2009 - UPI - BAKU, Azerbaijan, The Nabucco gas pipeline to Europe is a top priority for the region despite a scaled-back financial package from the European Union, officials said. Christian Dolezal, a spokesman for the Nabucco pipeline consortium from Austrian member OMV, said in an interview with the Trend Capital news agency that the project was key to energy security in Europe. "Nabucco is back on the list of priority projects," he said. Europe puts great emphasis on the diversification of its energy transit network. That effort received renewed focus following a January row between Moscow and Kiev that disrupted European gas supplies for weeks. The majority of Russian gas bound for Europe travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine. The Nabucco pipeline would avoid Russian and Ukrainian territory to bring gas to European customers from Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers. The European Union downplayed the project in March, allocating only $272 million of an original $323 million for a project expected to run $10.7 billion. Dolezal said, however, that "financing is not a problem" because of World Bank credits and lender investments. "Negotiations are on their way," he added.