Signed and sealed: President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso with Austrian Chancellor Werner Feymann, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc
Nabucco pact signed
EU governments and Turkey today signed a transit agreement for the EU and US-backed Nabucco gas pipeline, which aims to reduce Europe's energy dependence on Russia.
Transit countries Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria signed the accord in Ankara after years of delay, giving the €7.9 billion ($10.99 billion) project a major political boost.
"We are starting to confound the sceptics, negotiations once seemed irrevocably blocked, but now we have an agreement and I believe this pipeline is inevitable not impossible," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
The pipeline aims to supply Europe with gas from the Caspian and Middle East, and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted Iranian gas to flow through the pipeline - despite strong US objections.
"We desire Iranian gas to be included in Nabucco when conditions allow," Erdogan told a gathering of Nabucco partner countries and regional countries including Iraq and Georgia.
US special energy envoy Richard Morningstar yesterday reiterated Washington's opposition to possible use of Iranian gas in Nabucco until Washington normalises relations with Tehran. The two are at odds over Iran's nuclear programme.
However, despite today's signature, questions over supply and financing still plague Nabucco's feasibility, even as progress of a rival Russian plan edges ahead.
No concrete supply deals have yet been signed for Nabucco, which plans to pump 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Europe by 2014.
The Nabucco Consortium has mentioned Egypt, Azerbaijan and possibly Russia and Turkmenistan as sources for gas.
The Nabucco project has been unable to find sufficient throughput for the pipeline, which is competing with the rival Russian-backed South Stream project to feed growing European consumption.
Analysts say Russia's Gazprom more practical strategy - signing basic co-operation agreements with supplier countries - gives South Stream pipeline a competitive edge by building relationships between companies.
The EU has supported the project as a way of reducing its reliance on Russian gas. A row over prices and debt between Moscow and Kiev last winter led to Russia cutting off supplies into Ukraine, including those destined for Europe.
Predominantly Muslim Turkey, which aspires to join the EU, hopes Nabucco will strengthen its position as an energy hub for the West and advance its EU bid.