GazProm undermining NABUCCO

Russian state controlled company GazProm intends to increase gas transportation from Azerbaijan. GazProm chief Alexey Miller and his SOCAR counterpart Rovnag Abdulaev have decided upon the volume of Azerbaijani gas that Russia will receive from 2012. Presumably the Russian Federation will increase the purchase of Azeri gas in 2011 by 2? times and it will then increase further. Journalists suggest the reason for Russia’s policy is clear, it wants to consume such a large portion of Azeri gas that Azerbaijan will not have enough gas to sell via the NABUCCO project. A Polish commentator thinks that GazProm’s decision to increase the amount of Azeri gas has a political motive. According to this observation GazProm has enough gas of its own, yet is still prepared to buy Azeri gas. This is a clear-cut attempt to undermine the NABUCCO pipeline.