A number of Pipeline projects are planned in Romania to increase Natural Gas transport capacity. The Nabucco project, launched in 2002, entails the construction of a pipeline from the Caspian Sea region to Western Europe, bypassing Russia. Negotiations concerning the Nabucco project between the natural gas companies of five countries-- Bulgarias Bulgargas, Romanias Transgas, Turkeys Botas, Hungarys MOL, and Austrias OMV-- concluded in June 2006, when Nabucco Company Pipeline Study Group was formed to undertake construction of the natural gas pipeline network. The Nabucco project aims to transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, including Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The project has received widespread support from the EU since the project would lessen the regions dependence on Russian gas. Construction of the 1,760-mile, $5.8 billion pipeline is set to begin in 2008 and end in 2011. It will have an annual capacity of 170-480 Bcf.
Construction on the Arad-Szeged pipeline, which runs from Arad in northwestern Romania to Szeged in southeastern Hungary, began in 2006 and is to be completed by 2008. The pipeline will enable Romanias system to link fully with the network in western Europe, and will stretch for 40 miles in Romania and 25 miles in Hungary. Another planned pipeline, the Siret-Cernauti pipeline, will connect Siret, in northern Romania to Cernauti in southwest Ukraine. The pipeline was originally contracted in 2004 between Romanian state-owned Transgaz and the Ukranian authorities, but was delayed by the political crisis in the Ukraine and construction has yet to begin.
The Giurgiu-Ruse pipeline would connect Romanian and Bulgarian gas transport systems and is currently under assessment by Transgaz, Bulgarian Bulgargaz and the Wintershall/Gazprom joint venture Wintershall Erdgas Handelshaus (WIEE). In May 2006, the Romanian Economy and Trade minister emphasized the need to continue with all pending projects, including the Siret-Cernauti and the Giurgiu-Ruse pipelines.