According to a report published in Viennese daily Der Standard, Miller said while his comments "should not be seen as a threat to any particular project", he believes that the focus should be placed on "developing new gas transport capacities from Russia" -- which, Miller said, was already being addressed.

Der Standard added that Heinz Hilbrecht, the European Commission's director for conventional energy reserves, said Nabucco was one of the Commission's four priority projects in the energy sector.

Hilbrecht