Talks the European Commission is keen should happen on merging rival pipelines to carry natural gas into Europe can only begin once the next hurdle of submissions to Azeri authorities is over at the start of October, said one of the contenders TAP.
Oct. 1 is the deadline for three projects competing to build a link that will reduce Western Europe?s dependence on Russian gas to submit their case for contracts for 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from the second phase of Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan.
Only one of the bidders ? Nabucco, the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) ? will be selected and the other two will have wasted millions unless something can be salvaged from their schemes.
It is unclear when the results of the Shah Deniz submissions will be announced but in the interim the bidders are unlikely to be idle as they brace for the next stage.
?There are many in the EU that would like to see a merging of projects, but that is unlikely to happen ahead of the submission deadline on October 1. Our view is that discussions could happen after the winner is announced,? said Michael Hoffmann, a director at TAP.
?What you may see are various members of the other consortia wanting to engage with whoever wins in order to see how they can collaborate and become shippers or even shareholders in the winning pipeline.?
Asked about the rationale for a merger, a Commission spokeswoman said it would welcome cooperation.
?It is for the project sponsors of the pipelines to decide about a possible cooperation in gaining access to gas resources in the Caspian,? said Marlene Holzner. ?The Commission would welcome any cooperation which contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the Southern Gas Corridor.?
TAP, for instance, could team up with a less ambitious version of the European Commission-backed Nabucco project, providing southern Europe with gas, while the rest would be shipped to Nabucco?s planned point of entry in Austria?s Baumgarten gas hub.
Of the three schemes, analysts say Nabucco?s capacity is over-ambitious, but its big advantage is that all the governments involved have given legal backing.
TAP?s selling point is it does not rely on government subsidy, but it has yet to seal government agreements it needs.
ITGI has relevant backing but is widely viewed as the southern leg of Gazprom?s Southstream pipeline project, which aims to supply Russian gas to southern Europe in direct competition with the pipelines seeking to carry gas from Azerbaijan?s Shah Deniz field.
NABUCCO
Under discussion since 2002, the Nabucco project and the rival schemes gained urgency after long-standing tensions between Russia and Ukraine over gas pricing erupted in 2009 and led to the disruption of gas supplies to western Europe in the peak demand winter months.
Nabucco has a projected capacity of 31 bcm, three times more than the 10 bcm of TAP, although TAP says it has designed its pipeline to be doubled in capacity if the gas becomes available.
For now, it says, it is appropriate to the amount of gas on offer and said there were no obvious alternatives to the Azeri gas.
?I would be very surprised if we see anything over 10 bcm coming from the Caspian in the near future and in my view that rules out larger projects for the time being,? said Hoffmann.
MIDDLE EAST OPTION?
In 2009, Crescent and Dana Gas from the United Arab Emirates formed a consortium with Austria?s OMV and Hungary?s MOL with the aim of pumping enough gas from Iraq?s Kurdistan region to supply Nabucco.
The Iraqi Kurdistan region is rich in gas, but is regarded as high risk because of its dispute with the central authorities. Baghdad has said contracts signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government are illegal.
Turkmenistan also has gas, but its infrastructure is not geared towards supplying western Europe.
?The only export volumes the Turkmens have already go to Russia, Iran and China,? said Hoffmann.
In any case, Russia and Azerbaijan would likely block any plans to ship Turkmen gas through the Caspian and Azerbaijan into Turkey and western Europe in order to protect their main export market, analysts say.
TAP also questioned the philosophy of the Nabucco pipeline, which so far has insisted on ?dedicated? supplies of gas, meaning it would be a closed route that transits through Turkey and exclusively supplies the European Union with Shah Deniz gas.
?The argument for a dedicated pipeline system does little to support the security of supply objectives of the EU. What if there is a problem with production at Shah Deniz or a compressor fails along the pipeline in Turkey?? asked Hoffmann.
(reuters)
Source: reuters, September 5, 2011; Image: tap
Source: http://www.lngworldnews.com/tap-rival-gas-pipeline-merger-talks-possible-after-october-1/
dodgers crude oil prices the cars kendall jenner metrolink the help pagani huayra
No comments:
Post a Comment