The pipeline will make it possible to deliver more gas, initially from Azerbaijan and later potentially from other abundant Caspian Sea resources, via Georgia directly to Ukraine, and then onwards to Romania and markets in Eastern and Central Europe. The White Stream project, a continuation of the East-West Energy Corridor from Azerbaijan, will provide strong synergy and mutually-reinforcing effect with the Nabucco project by boosting upstream investment in the Caspian region. Branching from the SCP pipeline in Western Georgia, White Stream will also secure a complementary transportation route for diversified access to consumer markets.
The White Stream Pipeline will significantly contribute to encourage investment in gas exploration and production in the Caspian region, and will provide additional security of supply to European gas consumers. The availability of more than one gas transportation option from the Caspian to European gas markets will mitigate transportation risks, an important consideration for upstream investors.
GUEU is continuing to gain increasing international support from the interested countries and from the European Union for this prestigious project. Last week, the Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko strongly supported the pipeline project at a joint press conference with European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels: “We suggest [to] the Commission joint implementation of White Stream project É via the territory of Ukraine to Europe” ms Tymoshenko said. “We would like the European Union and Ukraine to be partners in implementation of the project.”
The EU Co-ordinator for the Caspian Sea – Middle East – European Union gas route, Jozias Van Aartsen, is now also in charge of co-ordinating the White Stream development, an appointment which the GUEU project team has welcomed.