Nabucco prays for a miracle amid problems

The project has evolved into a clumsy, expensive solution to a problem the market is already solving

People don’t believe in the Nabucco gas pipeline, and they haven’t for years. The EU-backed mega-project to diversify European gas supply and reduce reliance on Russia makes perfect political sense, but after nearly a decade in development it remains a pipe dream. First touted in 2002, momentum for Nabucco peaked after a gas war between Russian and transit-state Ukraine in 2009 that cut gas supplies for the second time in three years. Soon after, Turkey and four EU member states – Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria – signed an intergovernmental agreement to bring gas from central Asia to Europe, and the US warmly congratulated them on pipeline plans that could unshackle Europe from Russi