The Nabucco Natural Gas Pipeline: From Opera to Reality

On 13 July 2009, an intergovernmental accord on the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline was signed. The 3,300km pipeline will transport Caspian, Iraqi and likely Iranian gas in the future depending on the changing situation and its relationship with the USA, and to a lesser extent Egyptian natural gas resources, via Turkey to Austria. The Turkish leg of the pipeline will be 2000km long. Given that the pipeline is designed to export non-Russian Caspian resources – Azeri, Kazakh, and Turkmeni – to European markets, thereby, diversifying energy supplies for western energy markets, several European states and the US have supported this project. The project is planned to become operational in 2014 with an estimated cost of €7.9bn. In addition to enhancing its energy corridor role, the pipeline will provide significant benefits to Turkey in terms of revenues, employment, etc.