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BAKU, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan still sees a future forthe Nabucco pipeline, even after picking a rival project tocarry gas to Europe, as it expects to keep increasing output andexports of gas, its energy and industry minister said onThursday.
In June, the partners in major Azeri gas development ShahDeniz II - BP, Azeri state oil company SOCAR, Total and Statoil - chose the Trans-AdriaticPipeline (TAP) over Austria-based Nabucco West.
The expected investment, including pipelines, will amount tomore than $40 billion and reduce Europe's dependence on Russiangas.
The TAP project from 2019 plans to deliver 10 billion cubicmetres (bcm) of gas from Shah Deniz II to Europe each year, byproviding a link from Turkish pipeline TANAP to southern Italyvia Greece and Albania. TANAP will ship another 6 bcm forTurkey's domestic market.
The Nabucco West project had hoped to build a centralEuropean pipeline to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
"Nabucco is not dead," Natik Aliyev told journalists. "Itdepends on our resources. And I think we have enough resourcesto increase production."
"Sixteen bcm per year in the (Shah Deniz) stage II is verypessimistic. I think that Shah Deniz can produce more than 20bcm in stage II," Aliyev said.
He said that 10 bcm of gas would be enough for the TAPproject.
"If demand in Europe increases, direct access tosouth-eastern European countries would be good," he added.
Aliyev said on Wednesday that Azerbaijan expected a rise inits natural gas production from 2020 after the launch of ShahDeniz II.
He said the energy-rich country would be able to produce 40billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year from 2020, up from thecurrent 27 bcm.
