After nine years of planning, the Nabucco oil pipeline consortium submitted a bid to export Azerbaijani gas exports at the weekend, saying its pipeline was the best of three rival projects vying to carry Caspian resources to Europe.
But BP, the principal western company in the Caspian, is not convinced.
Only last week, the UK oil major revealed it had a fourth pipeline option up its sleeve to link the vast Shak Deniz field offshore Azerbaijan with European markets.
Each of the three pipeline groups actively bidding for the exports belong to the European Union-backed Southern Corridor that aims to boost Europe’s energy security by opening a link with the gas-rich Caspian region that by-passes Russia.
