The price estimate of the planned Nabucco pipeline has been increased by 58% to EUR7.9 billion, due mainly to higher steel prices, Nabucco Gaspipeline International GmbH, the consortium representing the six partners behind the pipeline, said Thursday.
In the consortium's feasibility study from 2005, the price of the pipeline was estimated to be EUR5 billion.
"Since then, crude oil prices have more than doubled - which consequently has also led to higher prices for all primary energy sources - also prices for steel," the consortium's managing director, Reinhard Mitschek, said in a statement. "In addition, steel is in high demand because of the large numbers of big projects and steel companies also capitalize on this high demand."
The planned 3,300-kilometer pipeline, which is to transport gas from Turkey to Austria, through Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria as of 2012, is seen as an important strategic project aimed at reducing Europe's reliance on Russian gas.