Nabucco Pipeline Gets Turkish Assent

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March in Austria diversifying the current natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The project is backed by several European Union states and the United States.

The Nabucco project, primarily designed to cut the dependence of energy-hungry Europe on Russian gas.

The 3,300-kilometer pipeline is expected to run between the Caspian Sea region and Austria, crossing Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. The Nabucco's entire capacity amounts to 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. Construction is expected to begin in 2011, with the €7.9 billion project possibly up and running by 2015.

Turkey is currently the 15th largest economy in the world, and 5th largest in Europe. The Turkish Union of Chambers and Commerce (TOBB) Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu stated that Turkey aims to be in the top three in Europe and top ten in the world by 2023.