ANKARA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and four European Union (EU)countries signed Monday a key agreement for the Nabucco project, anew pipeline to carry natural gas from the Caspian region and central Asia to Europe with a goal of reducing European energy dependence on Russian.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and his counterparts from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria reached an intergovernmental agreement on the pipeline during a summit here.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilialso attended the signing ceremony.
It was a historic day for European energy security and the ties between the EU and related countries, said Barosso in a speech at the signing ceremony.
Backed by the EU and the United States, the 3,300-kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline is expected to pump gas through Turkey and the four EU countries to Austria, bypassing Russia, which currently meets a quarter of Europe's gas demand.
Talks about the pipeline first started in 2002. The EU has pushed for the project after Russia-Ukraine price disputes disrupted gas supplies to Europe in the past two winters, but progress was slow due to uncertainties about suppliers.
Viewed as a turning point in facilitating the Nabucco project, the agreement laid down principles for issues like taxation during the management of the pipeline, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
After the agreement, all signatory countries will sign further deals covering detailed guidelines through multilateral talks in six months, said the agency.
Turkey hopes Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Qatar will jointly contribute to the Nabucco gas supply, while it's also possible for Iran and Russia to become suppliers, said Erdogan at the ceremony.
"The more steps we take (on the project), the more the interest of supplier countries will grow," Erdogan was quoted by the Turkish newspaper Daily News as saying at the ceremony.
The EU struck a deal in May with Azerbaijan and Egypt -- two main suppliers -- and Turkey and Georgia -- two key transit countries -- to speed up work on the Nabucco project.
But key potential gas suppliers like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan refused to sign up.
In another blow to the Nabucco project, Russia inked an agreement with Azerbaijan in late June to buy the latter's gas starting from January 1, 2010, the Russian Interfax news agency reported.
With Monday's agreement, the Nabucco pipeline is "inevitable rather than just probable", Barroso was quoted by Daily News as saying.
The pipeline will ultimately be able to pump 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year by 2020, or about 5 to 10 percent of the total gas consumption of the EU by that time.
Construction of the pipeline is expected to begin in 2010 with a total cost of 7.9 billion euros (11 billion U.S. dollars).
The project will be developed by a consortium of six companies, namely Hungary's Mol, Austria's OMV, Romania's Transgaz, Turkey's Botas, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz and Germany's RWE, which have equal ownership shares of the project and will decide on how costs will be shared.
The European Investment Bank is expected to finance one-fourth of the project, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said it's willing to provide financing once it sees gas supply contracts, completion agreements and technical parameters, according to the Daily News.
Meanwhile, the Nabucco pipeline is regarded as a boost to Turkey 's long-delayed bid for the EU membership.
The Nabucco project will further improve Turkey's relationships with the EU in energy and enhance Turkey's position in regional and global energy security, said Erdogan.
Barroso hailed Monday's deal as "a powerful illustration of the strategic bonds between Turkey and the EU," the Daily News quoted him as saying.
Turkey became an EU candidate country in December 1999 and began accession talks in October 2005. However, it has only begun negotiations in 11 policy areas out of the total 35 that are needed before its entry, with talks in the energy area unopened yet.
ANKARA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria and EU Commission on Monday signed the Nabucco Intergovernmental Agreement during the summit held in Turkish capital of Ankara and the Nabucco Project will transport natural gas to Austria via Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the signing ceremony on Monday that some defined the Nabucco project as a dream, but he believes it will be a success story. Full story
