Armenia-Turkey reconciliation opens way to Nabucco project

The French energy company GDF Suez S.A. has announced its plans to join the Nabucco gas pipeline construction project. The Komersant newspaper reports that the French company also plans to act as Russia’s partner in the North Stream and South Stream projects, rivals to the Nabucco project. Thus, the newspaper writes, France is trying to consolidate its positions on the world energy market amid the intensifying competition.

Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Board & CEO, GDF Suez S.A., stated the company’s willingness to share in the Nabucco project. He pointed out that a number of present political problems may be settled, which will enable a fresh approach to long-term investments in the project. It is noteworthy that the French company first tried to join the project in 2007, but lost a contest to the German RWE in 2008 – Turkey imposed an unofficial veto on France’s participation in the project because of political disagreements over the Armenian Genocide. Recently Turkey and Armenia signed a memorandum on the reopening of border and started settling disputable issues. Last week, following his meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed hope that GDF Suez S.A. would soon join the Nabucco project.

The Nabucco pipeline with a designed annual capacity of 31bn cubic meters, which is estimated at U.S. $7.9bn, is to start supplying natural gas from Iran, Turmenistan and Azerbaijan, through Georgia and Turkey, to Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria in 2015.

Among the partners of the project are OMV, MOL, Transgaz, Bulgargaz, BOTAª, RWE.

The NEWS.am. Analytical Department once made an in-depth analysis of Armenia’s prospects for joining the Nabucco project. We pointed out that it implied the involvement of Russia and Iran in the project, as well as, either the laying of an Armenia-Turkey gas main of the connection of the Iran-Armenia gas main to the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas main, which supplies gas from the Shah Deniz gas field. Specifically, President of the ArmRosgazprom Company Karen Karapetyan did not rule out this scenario a few years ago.

Earlier, Sevak Sarukhanyan, Deputy Executive Director of the Noravank Foundation, stated that the reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border would make Armenia’s involvement in the Nabucco project possible. Armenia is unlikely to receive gas from Azerbaijan, he said, pointing out the possibility of the Iran-Armenia gas main being laid as far as Turkey, which would enable Armenia to join the project. “It is desirable that the gas main should run from Azerbaijan to Armenia and further to Turkey, but we have an unresolved problem (the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict). Even if it were resolved, we should not expect Azerbaijan to start constructing a gas main in Armenia’s direction. Long-term confidence is one of the fundamental principles of energy policy, which is unlikely between the two countries even after the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Sarukhanyan said.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

17.10.2009