Europe: The Nabucco West Project Comes to an End

Azerbaijan's decision to transport its natural gas via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline instead of the proposed Nabucco West pipeline will create new challenges for countries through which Nabucco West would have passed. The energy consortium that is developing Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field, which will supply natural gas to Europe, officially announced the decision June 28. On the day of the announcement, Stratfor wrote that Azerbaijan's preference for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline probably was a compromise meant to placate Russia, which wants to continue dominating the energy market in Central Europe, while securing access to natural gas export markets beyond Turkey. But the decision also means that the Nabucco West project probably will die, and its death will affect the competition between the West and Russia for primacy in the region. Hungary and Bulgaria will continue to be highly dependent on Russian energy, while Romania will intensify its efforts to develop its own energy reserves.