Nabucco Launches 'Open Season'

The company behind the Nabucco West pipeline says it is ready to deal with expressions of interest in using its facility for transport, and has launched what it calls "Open Season."

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH announced Monday the launch of the process for booking capacity on the pipeline planned from Turkey.

"As development of the Nabucco project continues, we are pleased to be able to announce the achievement of this highly significant milestone," Nabucco chief executive officer Reinhard Mitschek said from Vienna.

Nabucco is one of the two contenders for the contract to transport gas from the second phase of the vast Shah Deniz natural gas field off Azerbaijan. The consortium says its pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Bulgarian border, crossing Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania to the Central European Gas Hub in Baumgarten, Austria. 

Last week, the BP-led consortium managing Shah Deniz said it has started thorough examination of the Nabucco group and its competitor, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. Its decision is expected in June.

Both projects are part of the Southern Corridor, a network of gas transit options meant to bypass Russian sources supplying the European energy sector. Europe gets about 25% percent of its gas from Russia, with most of that shipped through pipelines crossing Ukraine.