Four European Union countries have signed an agreement with Turkey to construct a gas pipeline that it is hoped would reduce their reliance on supplies from Russia.
The prime ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, signed an accord in the Turkish capital on Monday after Ankara's concerns over the Nabucco project were addressed.
Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, the EU's executive body, said that the pipeline was "of crucial importance for [the] EU's and Turkey's energy security".
The 3,300km pipeline is due to become operational in 2014 at an estimated cost of $10.9bn, with a capacity to pump 31bn cubic metres of gas from the Caspian Sea to Austria via Turkey and the Balkans, bypassing Russia.
The project is aimed to avoiding a repetition of supply cuts that disrupted Russian supplies to Europe last winter, during an energy dispute between Ukraine and Moscow.
About one quarter of all gas used in Europe currently comes from Russia, with several southern European countries depending almost exclusively on Russian supplies.
European gas pipeline deal signed
Four European Union countries have signed an agreement with Turkey to construct a gas pipeline that it is hoped would reduce their reliance on supplies from Russia.
The prime ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, signed an accord in the Turkish capital on Monday after Ankara's concerns over the Nabucco project were addressed.
Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, the EU's executive body, said that the pipeline was "of crucial importance for [the] EU's and Turkey's energy security".
The 3,300km pipeline is due to become operational in 2014 at an estimated cost of $10.9bn, with a capacity to pump 31bn cubic metres of gas from the Caspian Sea to Austria via Turkey and the Balkans, bypassing Russia.
The project is aimed to avoiding a repetition of supply cuts that disrupted Russian supplies to Europe last winter, during an energy dispute between Ukraine and Moscow.
About one quarter of all gas used in Europe currently comes from Russia, with several southern European countries depending almost exclusively on Russian supplies.
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