Gal Luft, Executive Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security: The slow progress on Nabucco is a result of political stagnation and disunity of mission within Europe

“The slow progress on Nabucco is a result of political stagnation and disunity of mission within Europe. Europe talks about energy security but doesn’t seem to be able to master the political will to bring the project to a starting point” Gal Luft, Executive Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a Washington-based think tank, focused on energy security, said.

He believes the current financial conditions of Nabucco will make the project “even less feasible”.

Speaking about the recent discovered major natural gas field in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian Sea, the analyst mentioned that the Absheron field is large and potentially fruitful but current natural gas prices are very low and there is uncertainty regarding return on investment in the near term.

A Washington DC analyst also commented on the Russia’s reaction on the EU decision to give a mandate to the European Commission to negotiate a legal framework for an agreement on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan as third party intervention in the problems of the Caspian Sea.

“The fact that the EC negotiates a framework for an agreement is no reason for Russia to get bent out of shape. Such processes take a lot of time and have little impact on the ground”, he said, adding, Moscow supports the idea of connecting the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea via the Volga-Don Canal.

“By this Russia would ensure it remains the prime conduit of Caspian energy. The lethargic European bureaucratic system is not a match to the speed and agility of Russia’s planners”, he added.


/APA/