OMV said the FID had been pushed back because the partners in the project wanted to align the timing with talks on securing gas sales for the pipeline.
"The timeline for the Nabucco project has been slightly rescheduled in order to align it with shareholders' negotiations for gas supply contracts," OMV said in its third-quarter results statement.
"The final investment decision, for which firm gas supply contracts are a basis, is now scheduled for 2011," it said.
There are five other Nabucco shareholders--Bulgarian Energy Holding, Botas of Turkey, Hungary's MOL, Germany's RWE and Transgaz of Romania.
RWE said last month the second phase of the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan was the key source of gas targeted to fill the planned 31 billion cubic meter/year line.
RWE said then the timetable for Nabucco would be "synchronized with the timing of available gas supplies" and that first gas from Shah Deniz 2 was expected in 2017.
Nabucco is expected to start operations by 2015 with construction of the pipe planned to start in 2012.
The Nabucco partners are also looking for other sources of gas supply apart from Shah Deniz and are in discussions for gas supply with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and Turkmenistan.
TURKISH FOCUS
OMV sees Turkey as an important link in its integrated gas chain--from exploration and production in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan, to pipeline infrastructure through Turkey to its gas hub in Baumgarten.
The company also plans to create an integrated oil business in Turkey, and last month raised its stake in the country's largest fuel retailer Petrol Ofisi to 96%.
"We have said that we are interested in integrated positions, including in Turkey," OMV CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer said Wednesday.
OMV has upstream oil assets in Kurdistan, and hopes to ship oil from the region to the Turkish oil hub of Ceyhan once production comes on stream.
It is also considering taking a minority stake in a planned 1.5 million mt/year (300,000 b/d) refinery at Ceyhan.
"To bring Iraqi oil to Turkey and process it in the country, that is definitely our target," Ruttenstorfer said.
However, the planned facility, being developed by Turkey's Calik Enerji, may still not be realized given the poor refining market outlook in Europe.
"Whether it is realistic that the Ceyhan refinery will come and whether we'll be interested in a minority stake, it is too early to say," Ruttenstorfer said.
"If at all it has to be integrated refinery position, only a minority," he said, adding that OMV had to wait until the closing of its acquisition of more of Petrol Ofisi before entering talks with potential partners.
