Lugar Energy Report on the Nabucco Pipeline

On July 13, 2009, with only a week’s notice, Turkey hosted the celebrated signing of an agreement to move forward on the Nabucco natural gas pipeline. It was a major breakthrough that had seemed unlikely just more than a year ago when Senator Dick Lugar set out to meet with leaders in supplying and consuming countries.

"Although the time between receiving the invitation and the summit was very short, I knew that the Nabucco project is so important that I had to drop everything to help represent the U.S. commitment to this strategic priority," Senator Lugar said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong Nabucco supporter, convened the Nabucco Inter-governmental Agreement Signing Ceremony and Summit in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders of twelve countries and the European Union showed solidarity for development of the Nabucco pipeline by attending.

Read the entire report

"The significance of the Nabucco agreement is far greater than the natural gas it will carry. Agreement on Nabucco is a bold demonstration that governments representing diverse peoples and interests can overcome divisions. It required substantial agreement on energy security between European Union nations, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the United States. It is a signal to the rest of the world that partner governments will not acquiesce to manipulation of energy supplies for political ends. It also has the potential to build new avenues for peaceful cooperation. This prospect was illustrated in the meeting that Ambassador Morningstar and I enjoyed with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki after the Nabucco signing this week," Senator Lugar said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing two days after returning from the signing event in Turkey.