Austrian energy group OMV has bought
German utility RWE's nearly 17% stake in the Nabucco pipeline project that aims
to bring Caspian gas to Europe.
Reuters quoted an OMV spokesman confirming
media reports about the sale but gave no financial details.
RWE also confirmed the stake was transferred on
1 March but gave no price or other details.
"You can be
pretty sure that this is not going to be the final (Nabucco) shareholder
structure as it is today," the OMV spokesman told Reuters.
OMV chief executive
Gerhard Roiss had said in December that talks with RWE on a sale were under
way. Both companies own 16.67% stakes in the project.
A decision on which
pipeline project will get the contract of delivering Azeri gas to Europe is due
within months. Nabucco is competing against the Trans Adriatic Pipeline group.
RWE had said in May it
was reviewing the Nabucco project.
OMV and its partners
have proposed a scaled-down version of the project called Nabucco West that
would run from Turkey's western border to Austria.
Nabucco West foresees
the construction of a 1300 kilometre pipeline from the Bulgarian/Turkish border
to Austria.
Original plans were
for a 4000 kilometre pipeline. Critics said estimated costs of more than $12
billion would make it too pricey and there would not be enough gas available to
fill the pipeline with non-Russian supplies, Reuters reported.
Nabucco West's owners,
in the long term, will be countries and companies with gas reserves bound for
Europe, Roiss has said, noting RWE had no gas of its own in the Black Sea
region.
Nabucco's other four
shareholders are Bulgarian group BEH, Turkish company Botas, Hungary's MOL, and
Romanian group Transgaz.