Turkmenistan ready to allot gas for Nabucco - president.

10/7 Tass 484

ASHGABAT, July 10 (Itar-Tass) -- Turkmenistan is ready to allot gas
for the Nabucco project, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow said
on Friday.

He said Turkmenistan was capable of exporting gas, in particular to
the prospective Nabucco customers.

The Nabucco pipeline will transport natural gas from Turkey to
Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. It will run from Erzurum in
Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria with
total length of 3,300 kilometers. It will be connected near Erzurum with
the Tabriz-Erzurum pipeline, and with the South Caucasus Pipeline,
connecting Nabucco Pipeline with the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.
The project is backed by the EU and the United States.
The preparations of this project started in February 2002 when first
talks took place between OMV and BOTAS. In June 2002, five companies
signed a protocol of intention to construct the Nabucco pipeline, followed
by the Cooperation Agreement in October 2002.
The deliveries will start in 2015. The pipeline capacity will make up
to 31 billion cubic meters of gas.
-0-yer