Detailed engineering and planning for the complete route of the multinational Nabucco Pipeline Route has reached the intensive phase. Five Local FEED (Front End Engineering and Design) Engineers for Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have been recently announced and the British owned engineering consultant company Penspen now coordinates the planning efforts. "These local firms are currently evaluating and investigating all technical details of the entire pipeline route to realise the necessary detailed planning", explained Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International.

The results will be the prerequisite for the official approvals, the output and quality specifications and for negotiations with gas suppliers. In addition, the analysis is a substantial part of the environmental and social impact evaluation, in which the financing institutions are involved in from the start.

Nabucco core team moved into Vienna Office

Reinhard Mitschek suspended his contract in OMV Gas&Power GmbH and his position as Senior Vice President of OMV Gas Logistics in April and switched 100 percent into Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH on April 1st. Mr. Mitschek now focuses exclusively on the realization of the Nabucco Project in his function as Managing Director. Alongside Mr. Mitschek, an experienced team has been drawn from the consortium companies to join Nabucco Gas Pipeline International. The Headquarter of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH has been established in FloridoTower in Vienna. "It is a strong signal of determination of all Nabucco partners. This important step for all involved will boost the realization of Nabucco", stated the Managing Director.

The recent EU-Summit last Friday in Prague was an important political milestone for Nabucco. "The participation of very important supply countries and Turkey on this EU Summit showed the strong political will of all involved to utilize the 4th corridor as a new supply route for Turkey and Europe", explains Reinhard Mitschek. The Intergovernmental Agreement, one cornerstone in the legal framework for Nabucco, is currently under negotiations on a ministerial level and it is expected to be signed at the end of June.
Nabucco Project in brief
The Nabucco project is making an important contribution towards securing Europe's natural gas supply; tapping new gas resources for European customers; and promoting competition on the international gas market. The Nabucco pipeline will run from Turkey via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to end in the vicinity of Baumgarten (Western of Baumgarten) - 3,300 km in total length. Current shareholders are OMV, MOL, Transgaz, Bulgargaz Energy Holding, BOTAS and RWE. The planned capacity for the final development stage is 31 billion cubic meters. Total investments currently amount to EUR 7.9 billion.