Nabucco-Pipeline
The Nabucco pipeline project called for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that would run from the Turkish- Bulgarian border to close to the Austrian Baumgarten an der March, where the central distribution center OMV is for natural gas. The project was abandoned in 2013.
The pipeline should connect the EU with Caspian natural gas ( possibly with Turkmen, Egyptian and Iraqi ) and so open up new sources of gas to Europe. In the EU Trans-European Networks program, the pipeline is considered one of the five most important projects in the development of the European energy supply network and was therefore nominated as "Project of Common Interest " in 2013. Originally the pipeline in eastern Turkey should begin their route was reduced several times and saw most recently as Nabucco West the Turkish- Bulgarian border as a starting point before. The original Nabucco project should cost about 15 billion euros, which will be applied to one-third by the operator consortium itself to two-thirds of loans. The cost of the Nabucco West pipeline have not been officially announced, due to the shorter route but they should be much lower.
The start of construction was delayed several times. The construction of the pipeline should begin in 2015 and be completed by 2019 at the latest.
On June 26, 2013 OMV ad hoc indicated that the international gas sources consortium Shah Deniz II will not deliver gas to the Nabucco. Instead, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has apparently been awarded the contract. Nabucco is valid for a total of a failure. The surcharge for cost-effective to be built (but ending in Southern Italy) TAP was an economic decision, even to Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to be able to supply better. OMV boss Gerhard Roiss: " The official argument against Nabucco was the better price on the natural gas markets in southern Italy and Greece. To what extent this is a fig leaf for political arguments, I can not judge. "
Business
Route
The original, 3900 -mile planned route of the pipeline led by the Turkish -Georgian border to Baumgarten an der March in Austria. In May 2012, the Nabucco consortium submitted the Shah Deniz consortium present an offer for "Nabucco West", in which a truncated variant of the pipeline was presented. This variant would transport the gas from the Bulgarian-Turkish border through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary over a distance of 1329 kilometers in total to Baumgarten in Austria. About the local Central European Gas Hub, the gas would theoretically in all other European countries can be further transported.
End of June 2012 was the Shah Deniz consortium announced that it has decided to Nabucco West as the preferred pipeline route to Central Europe. The process of environmental permitting process is completed for Hungary since August 2012 and for Bulgaria since May 2013. Since January 2013, the technical planning (front -end engineering design ) in progress at the Italian company Saipem operates.
Motivation
Background of the project is the EU's political desire for diversification of natural gas sources, especially in order to limit the strong position of the main supplier Gazprom or decrease. Russia delivered in 2010 almost 25 percent of Europe's gas needs. The EU spent around 475 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2007. 2012, the requirements in the worst case ( non- realization of one's own climate and energy efficiency targets ) was given in 2030 with approximately 575 billion cubic meters based on estimates by the European Commission. This is offset by a decline in domestic production in Europe itself The EU import demand is therefore expected to grow strongly over the same period. Thus, the development of new sources of natural gas is an important contribution to Europe's energy security.
In addition to the diversification of natural gas sources, the pipeline will diversify its gas transport routes - bypassing Russia and Ukraine - cause. Gas from Nabucco West is able to cover 50% of the gas demand of Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria and cause this diversification and competition instigate. The pipeline will diversify the market especially in Southeast Europe and the Balkans, wherever a high dependence on individual suppliers (eg Gazprom ) prevailed.
History
The project was initiated in 2002 by the Austrian OMV AG. Owners are in addition to the OMV Gas & Power GmbH national societies FGSZ ( wholly owned subsidiary of MOL) from Hungary, Transgaz of Romania, Bulgargaz Holding EAD from Bulgaria and BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation of Turkey. The decision for another sixth partner has fallen in February 2008, RWE from Germany. The contract was signed in Vienna on 5 February 2008. Until then, each of the participants held a stake of 20 % of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH; since there are evenly 16.67 % per shareholder. For shareholders RWE and OMV of the former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer worked as a policy advisor for the project.
After the first meeting of the consortium, the participants went to the Vienna State Opera, Giuseppe Verdi's opera to "Nabucco" to look at. At the subsequent dinner voted in the search for a project name those present for the name Nabucco.
After the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, the European Union planned to advance the construction of the Nabucco pipeline quickly. At an international conference on the pipeline project on January 27, 2009 in Budapest, also spoke of the Czech Prime Minister and EU President Mirek Topolánek, in favor of a speedy agreement of the Governments of the States concerned. The President of the European Investment Bank Philippe Maystadt, his institute could guarantee about 25 percent of the needed 7.9 billion euros for the project. The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development would also consider a contribution.
On July 13, signed in 2009 government representatives of the five countries involved in the Turkish capital Ankara, the agreement on the construction of the pipeline. The parties commit themselves, inter alia, not to impede the transmission of natural gas. Interruption of supplies as in the gas dispute are to be prevented.
In May 2011, the EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger confirmed a significant increase in the cost of the planned Nabucco gas pipeline. According to him, the cost of Nabucco will increase from the previously estimated 7.9 billion to 12 to 15 billion euros. The consortium referred to this information in June 2011 as speculation, was known, however, that the expected completion of the pipeline will be delayed by a further two years until 2017.
On 8 June 2011 signed the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH and the responsible ministries of the individual transit countries so-called Project Support Agreements ( PSAs). The main tasks of the PSAs are securing a profitable regulatory transit regime under EU law, the protection of the Nabucco pipeline prior discriminatory changes in legislation and the support of the authority of the legislature and for the further implementation of the project. The PSAs and the Intergovernmental Agreement are still valid in all transit countries, including Nabucco West.
Although the final decision to build for 2011 was expected to designated Stephan Kohler, Chief of the German Energy Agency ( Dena ) and Claudia kemfert, energy expert from the German Institute for Economic Research ( DIW) in October 2011 as a failure during a video conference with Russian energy experts, the project. The Chairman of the Steering Committee saw continued " good opportunities for implementation " and announced for July 2012 a decision on gas supplies by the operator of the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan.
In December 2011, WorleyParsons was appointed by the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH as the new general engineer, after this post in early January had been awarded in 2008 to the British company Penspen.
In January 2012, the TÜV Nord was commissioned to seek EPC contractor for engineering, procurement and construction and to advise the companies involved in the preparation of prequalification documents.
In May 2012, a spokesman for BP, that there would be in the pipeline as originally notified under any circumstances. According to the BP Manager Conn the pipeline with 31 billion cubic meters is too large, so that 20 billion and empty, there would be subsidized by RWE or the EU would need.
In May 2012, the Nabucco consortium submitted the Shah Deniz consortium received an offer for " Nabucco West", in which a truncated variant of the pipeline was presented. On June 28, 2012, this was on the route from the Turkish- Bulgarian border project reduced the award from Shah Deniz consortium for the route through South-East and Eastern Europe. The Transanatolische pipeline ( TANAP ) is provided for the gas transportation within Turkey. The project initiated by BP competing project South East Europe Pipeline ( SEEP ) is thus left just like the original version of the Nabucco pipeline. A decision between Nabucco West and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which runs over Greece across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, has been announced for June 2013.
In January 2013, all Nabucco shareholders signed an agreement on cooperation and stock options with the Shah Deniz consortium. This states that BP, Total, Statoil and SOCAR after the positive decision for Nabucco West can purchase 50 % stake in Nabucco.
Beginning in March 2013, RWE sold its stake in Nabucco OMV, the intention to pass on these shares. The project is still worn next to the OMV of energy companies from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey.
End of May 2013, it was announced that the French energy group GDF Suez has signed a share purchase agreement with OMV says that GDF Suez will take a share of Nabucco by approximately 9%.
End of June 2013 was the end for the project, since Azerbaijan opted for the competing project TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline ). However, OMV announced that OMV check the alternative, after which the line from the Black Sea to Austria could be single-handedly built and funded by its own gas fields, gas could be transported with it. Thus, the planning costs would not be lost in the amount of about 50 million euros for OMV.
Operation
As a logistics project Nabucco West provides the technical and logistical infrastructure for gas transporters ( " shippers "), but buys no gas itself. Potential Shippers must therefore decide for themselves how they want to relate the gas and therefore also conclude supply contracts. The Nabucco Company therefore excludes turn transportation contracts with the respective shipper.
Nabucco West is planned in a length of about 1329 km and a diameter of approximately 1.22 m. This gives a total of around 770,000 tonnes of pipes made of steel.
After completion of the first phase of construction should be started with an initial delivery capacity of eight to ten billion cubic meters per year according to the plans of the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. The market should have the expansion speed in decisions on advancing the maximum technical capacity of around 23 billion cubic meters per year.
The first deliveries could come from Azerbaijan, in addition, currently there are no promises of delivery. Since Azerbaijan in late June 2009, however, a portion of its gas reserves has sold ( especially from the largest Shah Deniz gas field ) to Russia, the chances of realization of Nabucco fell. According to the experts of Azerbaijan can contribute only 4 billion of the approximately 30 billion cubic meters, will be needed. The opinion of some analysts could be up in 2040, gas production in Azerbaijan but up to 60 billion cubic meters per year.
The discussion also was the supply of Turkmen, Iraqi and especially Iranian gas, whose impending availability is questionable. It also relates primarily to politically unstable regimes with which, as in the case of Iran, a collaboration currently seems hardly possible for political reasons. In addition, Turkmenistan has already committed large amounts of his future promotion of Russia and China in the contract. Although Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov called the reserves of his country than big enough for all consumers, this is considered by experts as unsafe. In May 2013, the Turkish President Abdullah Gül said that Turkey is ready to bring gas from Turkmenistan to Europe and thus to support the construction of an alternative pipeline.
Position of Turkey
Turkey sees Nabucco a welcome tool to push their EU membership. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called in January 2009 to accelerate the EU accession negotiations and brought this for the first time directly with Nabucco in conjunction. In the event of the failure of negotiations, Turkey, consider the Nabucco project as " endangered".
In order to ensure the utilization of the pipeline and thus Europe's gas supplies, in particular Turkey pursued the acquisition of additional supplier countries. So she sat up, inter alia, one for Iran and the emirate of Qatar as additional suppliers, leveraging their neighborly contacts in the Middle East.
In December 2011, a "Memorandum of Understanding" ( MoU) Turkey and Azerbaijan signed for the development of TANAP (Trans- Anatolian gas pipeline ) - a pipeline that runs from the Georgian- Turkish border to the Turkish- Bulgarian border. Also at the end of 2011, Turkey and Gazprom representatives signed an agreement on the construction permit of the South Stream pipeline. In March 2013, signed TANAP and Nabucco also a "Memorandum of Understanding " and officially agreed to collaborate on the development of the Southern Gas Corridor.
Competition
The Nabucco pipeline competes with the leading through the Nord Stream pipeline and the planned Russian South Stream pipeline.