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| Turkey, EU sign gas pipeline deal |
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| ANKARA (AP): European countries on Monday sealed an important agreement aimed at diversifying the continent's energy sources — but their pipeline project to bring natural gas from Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe can't entirely break Russia's dominance.
The Nabucco pipeline is still seeking gas supplies — in particular, from Azerbaijan — despite promising words by Iraq, Turkmenistan, Egypt and Syria. It may even need Russian supplies to fill its 31 billion cubic meters of capacity — although Moscow would be likely to be reluctant to ship gas through Nabucco as it competes with rival Russian pipeline projects running to Europe.
The European Union and the United States — key backers of Nabucco — say they are confident that gas supplies will now be found after Monday's agreement signed by Turkey and four EU countries — Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary — to allow the pipeline to cross their countries. |
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