Nabucco needs Azeri, Iraqi, Egypt gas by 2015 -OMV

MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan, Iraq and Egypt will become the main suppliers to the EU-backed Nabucco gas pipeline, delivering 15 billion cubic metres of gas per year from 2015, the head of Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI) told a business daily.

Chief Executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer told business daily Kommersant that Europe would need both Nabucco and rival Russian pipelines South Stream and Nord Stream as it would need to import an additional 150 bcm by the end of the next decade.

"I think the risk for Russia of losing its positions in Europe because of this project (Nabucco) is close to zero. The projects pursue different business models and will have different sources and customers," he told Kommersant.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has fought hard to outpace Nabucco in the past year by signing up many East European countries to join South Stream.

Nabucco will move forward next week when officials from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, the European Union, Egypt, Syria, Azerbaijan and Georgia are expected to give the project government blessing. [ID:nL3288256]

Gas resources for Nabucco are, however, far from certain as Gazprom is talking to Azerbaijan to buy all incremental gas production from next year, while the Iraqi central government is opposing the idea of Nabucco importing Kurdish gas.

Ruttenstorfer said he hoped Azerbaijan and Iraq would supply 7-8 bcm per year each while Egypt would add 1-2 bcm a year.

Turkmenistan, located across the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan, may join Nabucco at a later stage, while the situation in Iran, one of the world's largest gas reserve holders, is still giving no ground for optimism.

"The situation in Iran is not stable today and we need to see how it unfolds. So far I see no light at the end of the tunnel," Ruttenstorfer said. (Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by James Jukwey)