The chorus of the slaves in Babylon is the highlight of Verdi’s opera “Nabucco”. In 2002, after listening to a performance in Vienna, executives from European and Turkish energy companies took the name for their planned gas pipeline from the Caspian and Middle East. Nabucco did not proceed, but something similar today could liberate Europe from Russian gas.
Nabucco was intended as the keystone of the “fourth corridor” of gas pipelines to Europe (the first three being from Russia, Norway and North Africa). It would have run from Erzurum in Turkey into the Balkans and concluded in Austria.
Its supplies would have come mostly from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan, but also from Central Asia, the Middle East and east Mediterranean. The partners were leading Austrian (OMV), German (RWE), Hungarian (MOL), Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish energy and pipeline companies, and the EU backed the project.
But it ultimately lacked a sufficiently strong lead in the consortium, and it was undermined by the Russian promotion of South Stream, a line under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, the southern counterpart of the notorious Nord Stream. This ultimately morphed into Turkish Stream, bypassing the old route for Russian gas through Ukraine.
The Shah Deniz venture opted instead to support a new, smaller Trans-Anatolian pipeline to Turkey, and Trans-Adriatic pipeline (Tap) to Greece, Albania and Italy. Europe’s climate targets meant it lost interest in backing major new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Now, Europe is desperately searching for alternatives to Russia. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), delivered by ship, is the priority, with new import terminals planned in Germany. On Friday, the US and EU announced a deal to supply 15 billion cubic metres of LNG this year, about a tenth of the amount the continent imports through Russian pipelines, and 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2030. The German Economy Minister Robert Habeck visited Doha and Abu Dhabi last week in search of LNG.
But LNG is expensive, there is little spare on the market, and a major expansion of global production capacity will only come in 2025-27. So, Europe should also be scouring its neighbourhood for new non-Russian pipeline options.
Norway is doing the best it can. Europe should certainly engage more in Libya, but expansion of its gas exports will require more political stability and several years of investment.
European politicians have been speaking to Algeria, which could boost supplies. Potential, however, is limited by past underinvestment and rising domestic demand. Exports to Spain are hampered by Algiers’ refusal to use a pipeline running via Morocco due to a dispute with Rabat. The prickly government does not respond well to outside cajoling.
So, any large-scale neighbourhood solution will have to revive the old Fourth Corridor. This has been facilitated by the Russian switch to South Stream, which has freed up the Trans-Balkan pipeline through Ukraine to supply south-eastern Europe. New interconnections are being completed, such as the Greece-Bulgaria link, which should be ready in June, and Bulgaria-Serbia next year. Tap’s 10 bcm of annual capacity could be doubled.
Turkey, which has historically imported nearly all its gas requirements, is developing its first large domestic fields, Sakarya and Amasra in the deep waters of the Black Sea, which might together yield 20 bcm per year.
There are four major potential suppliers of new or expanded volumes into Turkey. Iran will remain difficult to deal with, even if the nuclear accord is revived and the US eases sanctions. Despite having the world’s second-largest reserves, it will use most of its production domestically, especially in winter when Europe also needs it most.
Turkmenistan holds the fourth-largest reserves, and new president Serdar Berdymuhamedow, who replaced his father on March 19, might want to diversify from selling only to China. Resolution of a Caspian border dispute last January could pave the way for a pipeline link across the sea, but Ashgabat has never been easy to deal with.
Prospects of the eastern Mediterranean were bolstered by positive results last week of ExxonMobil’s large Glaucus find in Cypriot waters. Egypt’s LNG plants are running below capacity and could export more, especially in winter when local demand drops. But Egypt will itself probably be short of gas again by the mid-2020s.
The long-proposed subsea pipeline from Israel to Cyprus, Crete and mainland Greece still looks economically and politically unfeasible, facing Turkish opposition.
The most feasible source, therefore, looks like the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Already, an internal pipeline is being extended to the city of Dohuk, near the Turkish border. The Pearl Petroleum consortium, featuring UAE-based Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum, alongside RWE, MOL and OMV, is expanding gas output. Further field development could create a surplus for export to Turkey, and either on to Europe or freeing up other Turkish supplies.
But several other large Kurdish gasfields remain undeveloped. Erbil’s policy on gas exports is unclear, despite some recent warm words between Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kurdistan Region president Nechirvan Barzani.
Many European policymakers and environmentalists would oppose construction of new gas infrastructure as incompatible with net-zero carbon goals. To counter this, new pipelines should be ready to carry hydrogen when available, instead of natural gas. It should be legally assured that any gas imports through new infrastructure would replace Russian supplies, not create additional gas consumption in Europe.
If Europe wants to solve its Russian gas problem, it will have to look to its own neighbourhood more as well as hanging on Washington’s coat-tails. It needs to discard some environmental shibboleths and be more politically imaginative and assertive. A rebuilt Fourth Corridor is one way out of energy captivity.
Robin M. Mills is CEO of Qamar Energy, and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
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Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
RESULTS
2.15pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner Shawall, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Majed Al Jahouri (trainer)
2.45pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Anna Bella Aa, Fabrice Veron, Abdelkhir Adam
3.15pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner AF Thayer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
3.45pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner Taajer, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
4.15pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner Jawaal, Jim Crowley, Majed Al Jahouri
4.45pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner Maqaadeer, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
World Sevens Series standing after Dubai
1. South Africa
2. New Zealand
3. England
4. Fiji
5. Australia
6. Samoa
7. Kenya
8. Scotland
9. France
10. Spain
11. Argentina
12. Canada
13. Wales
14. Uganda
15. United States
16. Russia
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
Company%C2%A0profile
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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