Please enable Javascript to view this content.
Iran has proposed the delivery of its own and Central Asian gas to Europe via the US-backed Nabucco pipeline, the Azerbaijani daily Ekspress reported Thursday.

On a visit to Azerbaijan's capital Baku Wednesday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheykh-Attar also proposed to export Iranian oil to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Ekspress said, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources.

The Azerbaijani news agency APA has also quoted Sheykh-Attar as saying that Iran is in talks with Azerbaijan on joining the Nabucco pipeline project. Ekspress said Azerbaijan has not yet responded to the Iranian proposals.

Meanwhile, Russia's energy giant Gazprom has said it wants to buy all gas Azerbaijan expects to extract from the offshore Shah Daniz field, the Azerbaijani media reported.

The Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Vasiliy Istratov, was quoted by Ekspress as saying that Gazprom was ready to buy the Shah Daniz gas at European prices.

The Russian-language Azerbaijani daily Ekho said Azerbaijan has not yet responded to the Gazprom offer, either. It quoted the president of the state oil company SOCAR, Rovnaq Abdullayev, as saying that Azerbaijan is considering the offer.

(C) 2008 BBC Monitoring Newsfile. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved

Related Project
Nabucco Gas Pipeline
Facility Type: Pipeline Owner: Nabucco Gas Pipeline International Gmbh
Scope: New Construction Location: Middle East and Central Asia to Europe Turkey