The struggle for control of a major natural gas supply corridor to Europe is heating up, with the two principal contenders announcing landmark agreements at the weekend in a race to get under way by the end of next year.
Both of the two proposed pipelines would supply a significant portion of Europe's gas supplies, but increased competition from other sources means only one is likely to go ahead in the next five years, analysts say.
On Saturday, Russia signed an agreement with Austria to co-operate on the South Stream pipeline, which would transport Russian gas under the Black Sea and terminate in Austria. The day before, backers of the rival Nabucco pipeline said they were taking construction bids for that project, which would bring gas from the Caspian region and Iraq through Turkey, also ending in Austria.
Nabucco would potentially offer a link to lucrative markets for remote gas reserves in Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, heaped scorn on the competing Nabucco proposal at a signing ceremony in Vienna, arguing it lacked sufficient gas supplies to fill the ?7.9 billion (Dh38.93bn), 3,300km pipeline.
"We can guarantee Russia's growing demand and that of essentially all our clients in Europe for the next 100 years," Mr Putin said on Saturday. "Name me one [supply] contract that has been signed by Nabucco."
South Stream, costing up to ?25bn, would supply up to 63 billion cubic metres of gas per year - equivalent to 13 per cent of Europe's consumption last year - and re-route some supplies that now pass through Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Nabucco would provide 31 billion cubic metres of new supply to the market.
OMV, the Austrian oil company, has agreed to build a section of the Nabucco pipeline in partnership with Gazprom, the Russian gas giant. The companies expect to make a final investment decision within 18 months.
Gazprom executives have said they see competition for Europe's gas market increasing in coming years, not just from other pipelines but also from a global glut of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that is shipped by tanker and freely traded on the global market.
An unexpected surge in domestic gas production in the US has led to an oversupply of LNG and put pressure on Russia and other pipeline suppliers to Europe, said Howard Rogers, a gas expert at the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies.
"If North American production remains resilient despite low prices, this would place greater strain on the ability of Europe's oil indexed pipeline importers to sell on their contractual minimum volumes," Mr Rogers wrote in a report last month.
Nabucco's backers say their project is going ahead despite questions about where the pipeline's gas will ultimately be sourced. They say the pipeline presents strategic advantages to a European market that has become too dependent on Russian supplies.
The consortium of companies behind the project will accept bids next month for contracts worth $4.7bn, the Nabucco managing director, Reinhard Mitschek, told Reuters on Friday.
"[This] is a substantial step towards starting construction at the end of 2011," he said. The Nabucco consortium has said it will make a final investment decision this year. It expects to sign gas supply contracts with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, and could also receive supplies from Iraq.
* with agencies
cstanton@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams
Penguin Randomhouse
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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pakistan Test squad
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5