RWE says original Nabucco plan not off table

FRANKFURT May 25 (Reuters) - German utility RWE says it's likely the original plans for the Nabucco gas pipeline project to carry Caspian area gas to Europe will still be discussed, even if a proposed shorter route is picked, board member Leonhard Birnbaum said.

"We are confident that Nabucco West will win the bid, and then I still think that the original Nabucco concept will be discussed again," Birnbaum told Reuters in e-mailed comments on Friday.

RWE is part of the consortium backing the Nabucco project, which also includes OMV, Hungary's MOL through its gas pipeline operator FGSZ, Turkey's Botas, BEH of Bulgaria and Romania's Transgaz.

Birnbaum's statement comes after oil major BP said it was no longer considering the original plan of shipping gas from its Shah Deniz Stage 2 Gas field in Azerbaijan through the Nabucco pipeline.