By Gergo Racz
BUDAPEST--Hungarian energy group MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU) has welcomed
a decision to select the Nabucco pipeline as a potential route for
transporting natural gas from Azerbaijan.
The Shah Deniz 2 consortium Thursday said it chose Nabucco
West's bid to transport gas from to Europe. Without this, the very
existence of the pipeline was in doubt, with members of the
implementing consortium--including MOL--voicing strong concerns
about the viability of the venture.
"This could bring an end to the long uncertainty period resulted
from the infeasibility of the original Nabucco plan," MOL spokesman
Domokos Szollar said in an emailed comment.
Earlier MOL urged the Nabucco consortium to reconsider the
planned trajectory and length of the pipeline from the Caspian to
central Europe, saying the project is unfeasible that way. It also
said it is ready to sell its stake in the project unless Nabucco is
revised altogether.
The Nabucco West plan that was awarded the Shah Deniz natural
gas reflects a new, shortened version of the plans.
"This decision...confirms our previous standpoints that the
original Nabucco concept wasn't sustainable, however a revised,
shortened version with reduced capacity can be still viable," Mr.
Szollar said.
Write to Gergo Racz at gergo.racz@dowjones.com