Even though the West is backing the proposed Nabucco gas Pipeline, connecting Turkey to Austria, in an effort to reduce European dependence on Russian gas; serious doubts remain on its political feasibility and economic viability, owing to its diverse gas sources such as Iraq, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, which are fragile regions. Moreover, the pipeline is planned to pass through restive areas of the South Caucasus and Eastern Turkey. Therefore, security is a major hurdle circumscribing the prospects of this project. To further undermine Nabucco’s prospects, Russia, along with Italy, has launched a rival South Stream pipeline project. It will transport Russian natural gas via the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further to Greece, Italy and Austria. The project being executed jointly by Russian giant Gazprom and Italy’s Eni is expected to go on full stream by 2015, much before the proposed commissioning of Nabucco in 2017. [Read More]

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Source: Weekly Blitz :: Writings