According to a US official, EU’s gas Nabucco pipeline project, which will run from the Caspian Sea to Austria, is necessary to reduce European dependence on Russia-based giant Gazprom. Nabucco is planned to be a 3300km pipeline running from the Caspian Sea via Turkey and the Balkan states to Austria. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009, with the completion date set for 2013. The pipeline will transport 31 billion cum of gas to the energy-hungry EU from the Middle East and Asia so as to reduce the bloc’s reliance on Russian supplies.
