BP Welcomes Revised Nabucco Plans

Vice president of BP's Shah Deniz development Al Cook has said that the company is "pleased" with the revision of plans for the gas pipeline Nabucco.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr. Cook said the revision of the Nabucco plans to the smaller-scale Nabucco West project was a "big step forward" for the Nabucco pipeline project.

"We believe Nabucco West is a much improved offer," he said. "We're really pleased."

The new strategy for the Nabucco pipeline would see the length of the route reduced to about half of its current 3,900 kilometre length, bringing gas from the border of Turkey to Austria, and would carry only a portion of the gas originally planned. While no confirmation of gas capacity has been released, it is believed that the pipeline might now be reduced to half of its proposed 31 billion cubic metres per year.

The revised plan for the Nabucco West pipeline is now under consideration by the BP-led Shah Deniz consortium.

Mr. Cook implied that a smaller version of the pipeline would be a sensible starting point before the project could be expanded.

"If a car wants to drive from point A to point B, and there’s only one car, you need to build a road before you build a highway," he said.

Related Reading: Alasdair Cook: A View on Shah Deniz