Steps to accelerate NABUCCO

President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso plans to visit Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on January 13-15. His mission is to accelerate the start of the NABUCCO project and to generally facilitate the so called south corridor initiative. There are various gas transportation projects in the pipeline for the south energy corridor – NABUCCO, TGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy) and TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline). Barroso stated before his visit that his mission is to get clear, firm commitments from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan regarding the projects. The preliminary steps have been taken to create a body for purchasing Turkmen gas. Different issues are being studied including the financing and creation of an effective structure to managing these projects. In November last year Turkmen vice PM Baimurad Khojamuhamedov stated that his country was ready to provide Europe with 40 billion cubic meters of gas per annum. In 2011 Turkmenistan will be producing so much natural gas that it needs additional markets for its product. Another pertinent issue is the legal status of Caspian Sea because at present the division of the sea between the five countries has not yet been finalised, which has of course created an awkward situation. It is likely however that economic interests will most probably facilitate the rapid resolution of any problems.