Nobucco Pipeline

Pipeline deal is sweet music for Iran Asia Times — How a trans-Caspian gas pipeline project came to be named after the 19th-century Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi's famous opera Nabucco remains obscure. The opera is based on a Biblical story about the tragic plight of persecuted Jews exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Maybe, the opera's enchanting story of love and struggle or its tendency toward melodrama was considered an apt metaphor for the acute Caspian energy rivalry. click to read complete article

Nobucco Pipeline Gets Turkish Assent Business Week — The Nabucco project, designed to cut the dependence of energy-hungry Europe on Russian gas, will reach an important milestone later today (13 July) as EU governments and Turkey are set to sign a key transit pact. "The signature will show that we are determined to make the Nabucco pipeline a reality as quickly as possible," European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said ahead of the signing ceremony, which would effectively end six months of intense negotiations on the use of the pipeline. click to read complete article

Russia May Score Final Coup in Energy Battle Moscow Tmes — The European Union is touting its deal with Turkey on Monday to realize the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project as a major coup in the quest for alternative energy routes that bypass Russia. The project’s major transit country, Turkey, may have been brought on board, but Ankara’s other energy interests in the Caucasus may still stand in the way of securing producer countries, namely Azerbaijan, for the project. click to read complete article