Nabucco shareholders offer the 50% of the pipeline's stakes to Skah Deniz gas field consortium if Nabucco will be preferred from the Trans Adriatic Pipeline as the main pipeline to carry Azerbaijani gas to Europe. TAP already signed a similar agreement.
A half of Nabucco stakes if the pipeline will be chosen as the main pipeline to carry Azeri gas directly to Europe.
On Thursday 10/1 Nabucco shareholders signed an agreement with Shah Deniz gas field's investors - Azerbaijani energy concern SOCAR, British concern BP, Norwegian concern Statoil and French company Total - about a common financing program of the pipeline.
Moreover, as Trend news agency reported, Nabucco's shareholders will sell the 50% of Nabucco's stakes to Shakh Deniz consortium's members.
Nabucco is a pipeline planed to carry 30 bcd per year of gas from Azerbaijan directly to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, in order to diversify EU gas supplies and decrease EU energy dependence on Russia - whose gas supplies actually cover the 40% of the EU total energy need.
Nabucco's shareholders are Austrian energy company OMV, Hungarian MOL, Romanian Transgaz, Bulgarian BEH and German RWE.
The pipeline is also politically supported by the European Commission, Austria, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic.
The agreement allows Nabucco to decrease the gap from the Trans Adriatic Pipeline - TAP: an alternative pipeline planed to carry 21 bcm per year of Azerbaijani gas to Italy from the border between Turkey and Greece via Albania.
In December 2012, TAP shareholders - Statoil, Swiss energy company Axpo and German E.On - already signed with Skah Deniz investors an agreement which prevents the sell of TAP half stakes to BP, Total and SOCAR.
TAP is politically supported by the governments of Italy, Albania and Greece. Once realized, TAP will make Italy the main Azerbaijani's gas hub in the EU, will foster Italy's political role inside the European Union, and will create job places in three countries particularly involved in the economic crisis.
A decision between Nabucco and TAP to appoint the main pipeline to carry Azerbaijani gas to Europe by Shakh Deniz consortium will be fundamental to allow the effective realization of both the projects.
Matteo Cazzulani
