Azerbaijan doesn't have sufficient natural gas for the Nabucco pipeline and the project needs to look for supplies from other countries such as Turkmenistan, Eni SpA (E) Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said Tuesday.
Nabucco's two problems are that there isn't sufficient Azeri gas for it and that there isn't a fossil-fuel producing country among the pipeline's backers, Scaroni said at a conference in Rome.
Eni and OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) are spearheading the South Stream gas pipeline project, while a rival consortium, which includes RWE AG (RWE.XE) and OMV AG (OMV.VI), is leading Nabucco in trying to attract Caspian gas for Europe.
Eni isn't involved in the Nabucco project.
Nabucco should look for alternative gas supplies, especially among Caspian countries with Turkmenistan in particular, said Scaroni.
A long-term option will also be Iranian gas supplies, he added.