An EU-backed natural gas pipeline to connect Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria and ease reliance on Russian gas will proceed as planned despite a recent setback.
The project hit a setback in July when Hungary said it was not commercially viable to expand the pipeline into Austria, but European Commission officials and energy ministers from southeastern Europe agreed at a meeting on Thursday to get the project back on track.
The pipeline, BRUA, will be able to carry 1.75 billion cubic metres of gas from Bulgaria and Romania to Austria by 2019 and 4.4 billion once the second stage is completed in 2022.
BRUA PIPELINE consists of three compressor stations on the territory of Romania, a part of the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria natural gas pipeline and the construction of the 476 km natural gas pipeline. It ensures that the gas transmission systems in Bulgaria and Hungary are linked to the gas transmission system in Romania. The proposed project in the Romanian territory will allow access to future large gas infrastructure projects such as TAP, gas resources from Central European natural gas centers and potential gas transport from Black Sea deposits. The project could potentially provide a platform for exploring opportunities for policy dialogue with Transgaz and Romanian authorities.