If built, Nabucco would be the only east-west gas route not controlled by the Kremlin.
Scheduled to be completed by 2013, Nabucco would transport Azerbaijani and Central Asian gas to Europe.
The Turkish route relies on the long-planned Nabucco pipeline, which is making very slow progress towards construction.
FORBES: Instability In Algeria Could Have Serious Energy Implications For Europe
The country's biggest foreign investor, Turkey, says it is ready to take part in the Nabucco project.
The third plan is Nabucco, an ambitious pipeline to connect Caspian and Iraqi gasfields to Europe via Turkey.
Continued American support for the Nabucco pipeline in the interest of European energy diversity, then, is absolutely critical.
One key battleground is Azerbaijan, which has yet to declare whether it will feed Nabucco with its gas.
The two pipelines would follow roughly the same route, ending in Austria, but Nabucco would bypass Russian control.
Bulgaria is also involved in two rival gas pipeline projects: Russia's South Stream pipeline and the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline.
And because Nabucco is being privately funded, its investors would likely walk away if its gas sourcing is shaky.
Mr. Putin came up with South Stream to keep Nabucco from being built.
The Europeans have long discussed their desire to include Turkmenistan in ambitious projects like the Nabucco pipeline or Trans-Caspian.
There is new interest in Nabucco, a pipeline to bring gas from Central Asia and the Caspian to Europe via Turkey.
And the agreement has been signed for Nabucco and we are ready to take some important steps with respect to Nabucco.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Meets with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
Nabucco could still be built to carry Middle Eastern gas, but Russia will have ensured continued control over Caspian gas reaching Europe.
The Nabucco pipeline was supposed to bypass both Iran and Russia and increase instead gas exports from the former Soviet republics to Europe.
The rivalry between this and Europe's alternative plan - the Nabucco pipeline - is one of the most intense in the Caspian Sea region.
In 2007 Nabucco will be forced to accept Russian involvement, including a hook-up to the underused Blue Stream pipeline that links Russia and Turkey.
Both Nabucco West and the Trans-Adriatic Pipleine are predicated on exactly the same oil indexed price points at the competing Russian South Stream pipeline.
FORBES: Getting Tough With Gazprom Could Be Suicide For Europe
As the competition between the Nabucco and South Stream projects perfectly exemplifies, Gazprom can literally play by a different set of rules than its opponents.
Even more significantly, Ankara gave a green light to Iranian gas exports to Europe through the Nabucco gas pipeline which runs from Turkey to Austria.
Meanwhile since discussions started on Nabucco Russia has not simply talked about, but actually built Nordstream, further increasing its control over the European gas market.
FORBES: Sorry Niall Ferguson - For Better or Worse, Russia Matters
The Europeans, who want to break free from their growing dependence on Russian energy supplies, desperately need supplies from the region to make the Nabucco pipeline viable.
One important new route is the Nabucco pipeline which aims to connect Europe with gasfields in the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia via the Balkans and Turkey.
Even Romania, once a staunch supporter of Nabucco, is wobbling.
During the debate on 20 January 2011 MEPs debated issues including economic growth and energy issues, such as the proposed Nabucco pipeline to bring gas from Turkey to Austria.
Nabucco, a trans-Balkan pipeline which aims to bring Middle Eastern and Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey's excellent gas infrastructure, will be at the heart of the power struggle.
U.S. support for the Nabucco line would not only ensure true European energy diversity through fair competition, but also prevent the consolidation of the natural gas industry for decades to come.
Their long-standing opposition to American-backed energy projects like Nabucco?
January's gas supply hiatus between Russia and Ukraine makes it more likely that the EU-sponsored Nabucco pipeline will be built, though it will be 2015 at the earliest before it enters service.
应用推荐