Possible additional supplier for NABUCCO

The NABUCCO natural gas pipeline should begin functioning in 2015 and be constructed by 2010. The CEO of the NABUCCO consortium Reinhard Mitschek stated this in Vienna, where he also said that during its first year of functioning the pipeline would supply Europe with 8 million cubic metres of natural gas from Iraqi Kurdistan and the same amount from Azerbaijan. It was known that the main supplier of the pipeline would be Azerbaijan but Mitschek explained that negotiations with Iraq had become very fruitful.

The NABUCCO project is being promoted by EU as an efficient way of supplying Europe with energy resources by bypassing Russia, thus preventing Europe becoming totally dependent on Russian supplies.