SOCAR, Hungary’s MOL to boost co-op on NABUCCO

Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR and Hungarian MOL oil and gas company will step up cooperation on NABUCCO, a European Union-backed natural gas pipeline project.

Talks on the project to export gas from the Caspian and Central Asia regions to European markets were held during SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev’s recent meeting with the MOL Group Chief Executive Officer Gyorgy Mosonyi.

Mosonyi voiced confidence that Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany’s visit to Baku this week would create new platforms for cooperation between the two countries’ state oil companies.

Abdullayev cited recent rapprochement in the relations between SOCAR and MOL. He said the premier’s visit would give an incentive to boosting bilateral ties. The SOCAR boss said Azerbaijan was keen on Europe’s energy security and represented a key partner in this respect.

Abdullayev said the interest in Azerbaijani gas has been on upward trend in the world. “Our gas production is rising by the year and the country’s export potential in the field is growing.”

Abdullayev comprehensively briefed the Hungarian energy executive on the all-rounded gas program being carried out by SOCAR and progress on developing Azerbaijan’s biggest field Shahdaniz.

The SOCAR president added that Azerbaijan was ready to act as a transit state for the transportation of gas from other Caspian littoral states to Europe.

The NABUCCO project envisions building a multi-billion, 3,300-km pipeline by-passing Russia by 2012. The project aims to help European countries diversify supplies of energy and reduce dependence on Russian gas.

This international consortium on the project comprises MOL, OMV of Austria, RWE of Germany, Bulgargaz of Bulgaria, Transgaz of Romania and Botas of Turkey.*