Nabucco Pipeline Consortium Starts Tender For Pipe Delivery

The consortium that plans to build the Nabucco natural gas pipeline said Friday it has started a tender process for the procurement of material needed to build the pipeline.

The pipeline is slated to transport gas from the Caspian region to central Europe via Turkey and Austria.

The Nabucco Gas Pipeline International consortium said in a written statement the tender is a "prequalification process" that will help it indentify "the most eligible" suppliers of long-lead items needed for pipeline construction, such as pipes, valves and bends.

The overall value of the tender package is EUR3.5 billion, the consortium said.

"The prequalification for long lead items is a substantial step towards starting construction at the end of 2011", said Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of the consortium.

The consortium comprises German utility RWE AG (RWE.XE), Austria's OMV AG (OMV.VI) and Hungary's MOL Nyrt (MOL.BU), Turkey's Botas, Bulgaria's Bulgarian Energy Holding and Romania's Transgaz.

A final investment decision is expected to be made before the end of the year and first gas will likely flow in 2014, the consortium has said.

Company Web site: www.nabucco-pipeline.com

-By Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]